I’ve always lived in Southern California — mostly in Orange County, south of LA. If you lived somewhere else, it’s probably not possible to describe what Jerry West meant to Los Angeles. It starts with what the Lakers mean to Los Angeles and then what West meant to the Lakers, as a Hall of Fame player, and then as a coach and general manager. Yes, there’s another professional basketball team in Los Angeles but only a few misfits care about them. Quality of life in Los Angeles is determined in large part by how well the Lakers are playing. West was synonymous with Laker basketball for 40 years. You could say that after West retired as a player, the Lakers were synonymous with Showtime, Magic Johnson, Kareem, James Worthy, and later with Kobe and Shaq and Phil Jackson. But West assembled the Showtime teams, acquired Kobe in a draft day… Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Shaquille O’Neal
I Got This Joke From Shaquille O’Neal
From THE_REAL_SHAQ: A Rastaman walks n2 a bank & hands the teller a bag of weed. She says “Sir, what is this 4?” Da Rasta said, “Mi wan open a joint account!” Read more →
Not as Unstoppable as Advertised
For a guy who’s supposed to be the most dominant, unstoppable player of his generation, Shaq has certainly been on the wrong side of some lopsided playoff losses: 1994: Indiana def. Orlando, 3-0 1995: Houston def. Orlando, 4-0 1996: Chicago def. Orlando, 4-0 1997: Utah def. Los Angeles, 4-1 1998: Utah def. Los Angeles, 4-0 1999: San Antonio def. Los Angeles, 4-0 2004: Detroit def. Los Angeles, 4-1 2007: Chicago def. Miami, 4-0 To be fair about it, he did win NBA championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002 with the Lakers, and in 2006 with Miami. Read more →