Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Lakers honour Shaq with high-flying statue outside arena

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers have honoured Shaquille O’Neal with a bronze statue of the Hall of Fame center who helped them to three consecutive NBA titles in better days.

Los Angeles Lakers former center Shaquille O'Neal poses at statue unveiling ceremony at Staples Center. Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters

Los Angeles Lakers former center Shaquille O'Neal poses at statue unveiling ceremony at Staples Center. Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers have honoured Shaquille O’Neal with a bronze statue of the Hall of Fame center who helped them to three consecutive NBA titles in better days.

With his youngest son pulling a gold braided cord to drop a shiny gold curtain, O’Neal laid eyes upon something bigger than the big man himself. The statue of him completing a monster dunk with his legs in the air is 2.74m and weighs 544kg. It is suspended 3.05m in the air, attached to the side of Staples Center. O’Neal is 2.16m and was 147kg in his playing days.

Purple and gold confetti and streamers rained down on O’Neal, his family and some of the biggest names in NBA history, including Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant, all of whom spoke at the hour-long ceremony Friday (March 24). AP

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.