Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal believes that Jerry West doesn’t get enough love for being the architect behind teaming up him and Kobe Bryant. As the general manager of the Lakers in 1996, it was ‘The Logo’ who pushed hard for the Purple and Gold to acquire ‘The Diesel’ and then made the corresponding trade moves to acquire Bryant after watching his pre-draft workout and stating that it was the best workout he’d ever seen .
That’s why O’Neal thinks that the unsung hero behind one of the most dominant eras of Lakers basketball was no other than Mr. West.
“You know who else I got to thank? Jerry West. Jerry West put this thing together. A lot of people don’t talk about it, like if I don’t go there, he don’t trade Vlade, and there’s a possibility that he don’t get Kobe, so Mr. West, wherever you are, thank you for helping me with my three championships because you don’t get mentioned a lot either but you put this thing together,” O’Neal said on “Inside the NBA.”