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Originally Posted by DJ Happy
The gist of my post is not to apportion blame, but rather that it's now more obvious than ever that Shaq was the man on the Lakers championship teams and Kobe is a punk. Obviously Kupchak is to blame as he was the idiot who traded Shaq in the first place and decided that Kobe was the future.
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I doubt Shaq would've saved the Lakers season if they kept him instead of Kobe. You have the injuries of Vlade and Odoms and no supporting cast. A healthy Odoms would've given them a good chance at the playoffs down the stretch. Come on, Chucky Atkins is their starting PG?! He'd be a bench player on most other teams. There has to be some blame on the Lakers management for not putting together a better team.
On the other hand, Shaq left and went to a better situation, with a team that made the playoffs without him last year. They have a 2nd great player in Wade and a supporting cast that includes Eddie Jones! Plus Miami belongs to the Eastern Conference! No matter how you slice it, they don't have the powerhouses (Spurs, Mavs, Kings, Suns, etc.) that the Lakers have to go against in the Western Conference. Therefore, I doubt that it is obvious that Shaq > Kobe!