L.A. Lakers: How Many Titles Could Kobe Bryant and Co. Have Won If Shaq Stayed?
The Los Angeles Lakers had a dream off-season in 1996 as they added not one, but two young future Hall of Famers to their roster.
They lost legend Magic Johnson to his second and final retirement, but were able to acquire high schooler Kobe Bryant from the Charlotte Hornets, and then sign former Orlando Magic center Shaquille O'Neal.
Shaq and Kobe would eventually form a dangerous dynamic duo in Southern California and lead the Lakers to three consecutive NBA titles from 2000-2002, the franchise's first titles since Magic and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were around in the 1980s.
The Lakers were eliminated from the postseason in 2003 as they lost to Tim Duncan and David Robinson's San Antonio Spurs squad in the Western Conference Semifinals.
In the offseason, the Lakers signed two more future Hall of Famers in aging veterans Karl Malone, the NBA's second all-time leading scorer, and Gary Payton, perhaps the greatest defensive point guard in league history.
But despite having the "Big Four" of The Diesel, Black Mamba, The Mailman and The Glove, L.A. wasn't able to pick up another title, surprisingly losing to the superstar-less Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals.
Following those Finals, the Lakers underwent a monumental rebuild. O'Neal, who had a well-publicized feud with Bryant, was traded to the Miami Heat in exchange for 2011 Sixth Man of the Year Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and two future draft picks.
Head coach Phil Jackson and Malone left the team, Payton and Rick Fox were dealt to the Boston Celtics and Derek Fisher signed as a free agent with the Golden State Warriors.
With O'Neal down in South Beach with Dwyane Wade and Co., Bryant was now the unquestionable leader in Los Angeles. No longer was he Scottie Pippen, he was now the Lakers' Michael Jordan.
The Lakers would miss the playoffs in 2005, but after the return of Jackson from a one-year break, the team reached the postseason in 2006 and 2007, falling to the Phoenix Suns in the first round both times.
In February 2008, the Lakers acquired Memphis Grizzlies All-Star big man Pau Gasol in a deal that included super-bust Kwame Brown.
The Bryant-Gasol duo would power the Lakers to the NBA Finals that year, where they lost to Boston, but then carried the team to back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.
Gasol obviously proved to be the perfect running mate for Bryant, but what if O'Neal, Bryant's former superstar running mate, wasn't traded and remained in Los Angeles for a few more years?
And imagine if Kobe and Shaq never had any sort of feud and got along just perfectly. The two had won three titles together, but how many more could they have won if the tandem wasn't broken up?
If O'Neal had stayed in town, Malone might have returned for another season and made a final attempt to win a ring, basically the only thing that he never achieved during his stellar career.
Jackson likely doesn't take a year off and isn't replaced by Rudy Tomjanovich and Frank Hamblen.
Payton is probably still traded since he didn't quite fit in the Lakers' triangle offense. And maybe Fisher re-signs with the team to be the starting point guard instead of heading to Golden State.
Okay, so Malone and Fisher likely stay, but what other players would have surrounded the potent Kobe and Shaq combo?
O'Neal not being traded to Miami means no Gasol or Odom. And 2005 lottery pick Andrew Bynum never would have donned the purple and gold since the team wouldn't have been bad enough to obtain a high draft pick. There's no telling exactly what players would have been brought in to fill out the roster.
O'Neal and Bryant would have changed roles. Shaq would have been demoted to the team's second option on offense, while Kobe would have emerged as the main go-to guy.
Chances are, the Lakers redeem themselves in the 2004-05 campaign by advancing past San Antonio somewhere in the playoffs and winning the title as they defeat Detroit in a highly-anticipated NBA Finals rematch.
In 2006, the Lakers just might have won a second consecutive title and their fifth in the last seven years as they beat Detroit once again in the NBA Finals.
O'Neal won a ring with the Heat in '06 playing alongside Wade so there's no doubt that he and Bryant could have won one that year with the Lakers. Remember, Bryant averaged a remarkable 35.4 points per game that season, the highest of his career.
The aging O'Neal soon would have been bothered with injuries, vastly decreasing the Lakers' chances of hoisting another Larry O'Brien trophy.
With that said, GM Mitch Kupchak likely would have traded O'Neal for younger talent eventually. Bryant would have been paired with a superstar somehow, since the Lakers have always had a knack for being on the better end of lopsided trades.
In conclusion, if Shaq had stayed a little longer in the City of Angels, the Lakers could have won at least two more titles.
But obviously we'll never know what might have been.
