O'Neal joined the Lakers in '96 and won the championship until 2000, losing to someone in the playoffs in the middle of the three years

Those things in the basketball world

2024-05-26 18:22Posted in Henan Sports Creators

Preface

As one of the most dominant players in NBA history, O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive championships at his peak, and he personally became the only player in the league since Jordan to achieve three consecutive FMVPs. But even O'Neal's career hasn't been smooth sailing, and he didn't suffer in the playoffs until he entered the 21st century.

In his four seasons with the Magic, O'Neal was swept out of the playoffs in the playoffs in the other three seasons, except for the first year he did not make the playoffs. After becoming a free agent in 1996, O'Neal chose to join the Lakers for a big contract and a championship, but although he changed to a new team, it still took him three years to build the Lakers into a championship team. So in 1997, 1998, and 1999, what results did O'Neill lead the team to, and what kind of performance did he play personally?

1996-1997 season

Regular season record: 56-26 (4th in the West)

Playoff record: 1-4 to Jazz in the second round

In the 1996 offseason, in addition to signing O'Neal, the Lakers also got players such as Colsey and Horry one after another, and also signed back Byron Scott during the "ShowTime" period. However, the Lakers' record in the regular season this season has not improved significantly, and they only have 3 more wins than last season, but O'Neal's personal performance is still very outstanding, averaging 26.2 points, 12.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.9 blocks per game.

In the first round of the playoffs against the Trail Blazers, O'Neal averaged 33 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.8 blocks per game, and with his help, the Lakers eliminated their opponents in just four games. In the second round against the Jazz led by the Utah Twins at their peak, they ranked first in the West with a record of 64-18 in the regular season, and O'Neal was completely limited in this round of the series, in addition to Malone, the Jazz's interior line also has 2.18 meters of big center Ostertag and 2.11 meters of Foster.

Throughout the series, O'Neal had to constantly fight with the opponent's big center in the penalty area, and often fell into the trap and various help defenses, and in the face of this kind of high-intensity and continuous defense, even O'Neal was quite tired. In the end, O'Neal only handed over an average of 22 points per game, and the shooting rate was less than 50%, and it was very difficult for the Lakers to win when the star was completely out of shape, and the only game they won was a team-high 19 points thanks to the rookie Kobe Bryant's explosion.

1997-1998 season

Regular season record: 61-21

Playoff record: 0-4 to Jazz in the Western Conference finals

Obviously, the loss in 1997 did not affect the Lakers, but as Kobe Bryant improved, the Lakers also performed better in the new season. In the regular season this year, Kobe Bryant averaged 15.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, and he also became the team's best scorer outside of O'Neal and Jones. And O'Neal, as the face of the Lakers, also showed a better performance, averaging 28.3 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.4 blocks per game.

It is worth mentioning that this season, the Lakers not only O'Neal was selected as an All-Star, but also Kobe, Jones, and Van Exel were also selected, of which Jones and O'Neal were both All-Star starters. Under the leadership of key players, the Lakers' offense in the regular season played at the top level in the league, averaging 105.5 points per game to rank first in the league, and 111.9 offensive efficiency ranked second in the league. With a super offense, the Lakers played a 60+ win record in the regular season for the first time during the period led by O'Neal.

In the playoffs against the Trail Blazers and SuperSonics, O'Neal showed his inexplicable dominance under the basket, and the Lakers also won the two-round series without blood. The Western Conference finals faced the Jazz again, but the Lakers were still on the back foot, and their shortcomings on the defensive end were not only not any improvement from the previous year, but more obvious. Throughout the series, O'Neal was constantly targeted by Stockton, who frequently used pick-and-rolls to pull O'Neal out of the box as much as possible, while the Lakers without O'Neal's frame were just a layer of paper.

Although O'Neal found a way to deal with the Jazz's defense on the offensive side of the series, and he was able to average 31.8 points per game, 9.3 rebounds and 1 assist was clearly not his best performance. On the defensive end, the Lakers couldn't limit the Jazz at all, the latter team's shooting rate was as high as 53.3%, and the average assists per game were nearly 10 more than the Lakers, and in the end, the Lakers were not only swept miserably, but G1 was also abused by 35 points.

1998-1999 season

Regular season record: 31-19 (4th in the West)

Playoff record: 4-0 to Spurs in the second round

The successive losses made the Lakers management more and more anxious, so in the 1998-1999 season they began to reform the coaching staff and team lineup, and Harris, Bill Portka, and Cortland Bis all served as Lakers coaches in the regular season. In terms of roster, the Lakers have almost completely dismantled the main rotation lineup of the past few years, such as Jones and Van Exel, who were selected as All-Stars the year before, have left the team.

Fortunately, the Lakers' confidence is O'Neal, who averaged 26.3 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game in the regular season, but still helped the team stabilize the situation. And with the departure of other outside players, Kobe Bryant also got more opportunities, he averaged 19.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1 block per game in the regular season, and finally he was selected to the best team for the first time. With the combination of O'Neal and Kobe, the Lakers still finished fourth in the West in the regular season.

In the first round of the playoffs, against the Rockets led by the Big Three, Olajuwon, Barkley, and Pippen, O'Neal has become more mature and powerful than when he met Olajuwon in the Finals, while Olajuwon is becoming more and more powerless as he gets older. O'Neal also avenged the year's revenge in this matchup, he led the team to sweep the opponent with an average of 29.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks per game, and under his defense, Olajuwon averaged only 13.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in the series, shooting 42.6% from the field.

Just when fans began to look forward to winning the championship, the Lakers were "educated" again in the second round against the Spurs, and the Lakers failed to win a single game in the entire series, which can be said to be beaten by the Spurs in all aspects. O'Neal lost his ability to dominate the game against David Robinson and Duncan's inside, averaging just 23.8 points per game and shooting less than 50 percent from the field. On the other hand, Duncan, a sophomore rookie on the other side, averaged 29 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2 blocks per game, and he was also the first person in this series.

However, although the Lakers lost this year, Kobe Bryant took this opportunity to completely secure the core position of the team, he averaged 21.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game against the Spurs, and his rise in the future also greatly shared the pressure on O'Neal, so the Lakers can build a dynasty.

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