I knew you'd get ruffled by this.
I don't know about Shaq being too much of a diva. I'm not a huge fan of his but the Lakers screwed him. They bascially told him, look, this is Kobe's team, Kobe wants to play for Jackson, you don't like Jackson, you're gone. Jackson says bye. Shaq says 'screw you guys, I'm going home', and hopefully Kobe will leave just because the Lakers deserve it.
Then because they know how good Shaq is they want to send him to the east where they won't have to play him too much. This is the begining of the end for the Lakers.
Not really....Shaq LOVED jackson, he's the reason they brought in jackson. Jackson hated Kobe, even made a comment about Kobe last game they lost.
The Org is trying to protect Kobe, so they let Jackson go, then Shaq demands the trade....which is NOT good. he never negotiated a single thing for them to keep him.
its all about attitudes. you can't have 2 ego's on the same team, that's what it all comes down to.
the lakers are trying to keep Kobe since they have more years in him per se. Shaq's what 30ish...players usally hit retirement age around there, he's the WORST free-thrower of all time. THey have more of an investment in Kobe and you're right there was NO way they were going to trade shaq to a west coast team.
BUT there is one thing that may keep shaq here, one of the players on FL needs to pass his physical, i guess there were some health issues with him and they need him to be healthy and get a huge OK from the dr's. we'll see, but my world is crumbling slowly.
You're right, I had the Jackson thing reversed.
nah you've got the shaq angle all wrong. As much as i can't stand the guy, he got the shaft the whole time he was there. He never complained publicly about kobe, who said a lot about shaq and how he thought he was faking the toe thing and how he was a distraction. But Shaq has never said anything bad about kobe, even with the whole mess he has in CO...
yes he did