Shaq’s flowers for LeBron James choosing 76ers come with harsh reality on Lakers tenure

The Los Angeles Lakers have had quite the eventful offseason, first learning that LeBron James would be leaving in free agency and then making a flurry of moves, headlined by a sign-and-trade for Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler. James has since gone on to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers in a move that shocked basketball fans everywhere.

Recently, Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal weighed in on where James ranks in the illustrious history of the Los Angeles franchise.

“The good thing for LeBron, he did win one,” O’Neal said, per Prince J. Grimes of USA Today’s For The Win. “But you know, Kareem got six, Magic got five, Kobe got five, I got four, Rambis got three. So you know, he’s at the party, but he’s not on stage.”

Virtually every superstar player that has worn the purple and gold has netted at least one championship for the franchise, with James doing so in his second year with the Lakers back in 2019-20. While the last few seasons were filled with disappointments and early playoff exits in Los Angeles, with a shocking Luka Doncic trade sandwiched in between, James still accomplished his goal of returning the Lakers to NBA relevance after a rare down period in the last few years of Kobe Bryant’s career and into his retirement.

O’Neal also hit back at those who have accused James of ring chasing by joining the 76ers.

“The man’s not chasing rings. The man has already gotten rings the right way,” he said.

Now the Lakers will look to fully pivot into the Doncic era, and will hope that this offseason’s flurry of moves after James’ departure will be enough to get them into contention in a crowded Western Conference.

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