From diehard Laker fans to the casual observer of the NBA, the Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal relationship continues to be as polarizing as it was years ago. According to former Laker coach Del Harris, in 1997 Jerry West, then the general manager of the Lakers was enamored with the idea of adding future Hall of Fame scorer Tracy McGrady to his already offensively potent group.
Following from Marc Stein of the New York Times,
As the Lakers’ longtime roster architect, West was famously smitten by the predraft workout performance that Bryant, then 17, unleashed against the longtime Lakers defensive standout Michael Cooper, who was an assistant coach by that point. As Harris tells it, Tracy McGrady had an even more impressive audition for the Lakers one year later, prompting West to make a brief but serious push to try to acquire McGrady’s draft rights and team him with O’Neal and Bryant.
Lakers owner Jerry Buss, according to Stein, stymied the idea and the team settled for a championship run without McGrady.
It was the Lakers’ owner Jerry Buss, hungry to end a championship drought that would ultimately last 11 seasons before Shaq, Kobe and their new coach Phil Jackson won their first of three successive titles together in 2000, who shot down the idea of a Bryant/McGrady partnership.
In the Times article, Stein noted that Buss was hesitant to surrender significant pieces to get McGrady to LA. According to the Times, shooting guard Eddie Jones was where Buss drew the line. Harris, also against the idea, wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of integrating two teenagers into the league.
The Lakers went on to do just fine without the 7-time All-Star, winning 3 NBA titles with Bryant and Shaq leading for much of the way. Still, one can’t help but wonder what would have come from a trio of stars of that caliber coming together.
