The Diesel thought LeBron’s legacy was set. But the King knew he was still on a mission to chase the ghost in Chicago.
2018 delivered another pivotal summer for LeBron James. After a fabulous 2017-18 season, one that saw No. 23 lift the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals and finish as the runner-up in the league MVP voting, it was evident that the superstar forward was still at the peak of his powers, even after 15 years in the NBA.
He was hands down the biggest draw of the 2018 free agent pool. After months of speculation about where he would go next, July was finally approaching, and a landscape-changing move was on the way. However, NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t one to buy in on the fun.
A set legacy?
Days after James and the Cavs suffered a sweep to Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, the biggest conversation in the basketball universe was about where LeBron would head next to position himself to win a championship.
Shaq, never one to give his unfiltered opinion, felt that the King had already done enough to secure a top-notch legacy. When many were arguing the 32-year-old superstar would head to the Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers, or even the Houston Rockets to join Chris Paul and James Harden, “The Diesel” thought it was best for James to finish his career at home.
“Somebody told me a long time ago—they said your book is already set [before the later stages of your career]. You can add index pages toward the end, but your book is already set. So LeBron’s book is already set,” O’Neal said. “He done already passed up legends; he done already made his mark—he has three rings. His mentality now is probably: I want to get four before Steph does. That’s probably his mentality now. But if I was him, I wouldn’t be trying to get four, five and six because it ain’t going to matter. It’s just something else to talk about, something else to add to the pages. He’s a legend, talked about as who is the best between he and Michael Jordan, so he’s set.”
An ulterior motive?
Roughly 22 years earlier, O’Neal signed with the Lakers as a free agent to do what he told LeBron not to do—chase championships, although that was Shaq before his prime and, as he puts it, before his book was “already set.”
Toward the end of his career, the three-time NBA Finals MVP became a journeyman, searching for opportunities to add to his ring count, especially because he wanted to keep pace with his frenemy Kobe Bryant.
Shaq has always been ultra-competitive, and some would point to his nature as the reason why he urged LeBron to stay in Cleveland in 2018.
At that point, the King had three rings to O’Neal’s four. By joining forces with a title contender, James would position himself to secure a fourth championship and tie Shaq, which he did two years later by leading the Lakers to banner No. 17 in the bubble.
Was the former superstar big man really for LeBron finishing his career in Cleveland for a feel-good story? Or did he fear the kid from Akron would surpass him in rings?
Fast-forward to today and the legendary center has given LBJ his praise as a rightful member of the GOAT conversation, even once saying that if the four-time MVP passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in all-time career points, it would make him the greatest to ever play.
