Shaquille O’Neal: Lakers Would ‘Never Win Again’ If They Traded LeBron James

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While some around the NBA have quietly suggested the Los Angeles Lakers trade LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal has some advice: Don’t.

“If you trade LeBron, you’ll never win again,” O’Neal said Monday on CNBC. “… If you put LeBron around the right guys, he’s definitely going to win. So I think whoever put the team together needs to step up and try to fix it.”

The Lakers are in the midst of a miserable 2021-22 campaign, sitting at 27-33 and in the ninth place in the Western Conference. They are 3.5 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 8 seed after a listless performance Sunday in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.

The roster, much of which was built at the behest of James, has been an utter disaster from the outset. Russell Westbrook has proven to be an oil-and-water mix with James on the floor and has been an increasing subject of scorn among Lakers fans. Westbrook has been the subject of boos and benching on more than one occasion this season, a massive adjustment for the 2017 NBA MVP.

Anthony Davis has spent much of the year on the sideline with injuries, the latest being a midfoot sprain. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Feb. 25 that Davis could miss another 4-5 weeks with the injury, at which point will be close to the end of the regular season.

Rich Paul, who represents Davis and James, met with Lakers management last week to clear the air amid rumors LeBron may want to exit Los Angeles. James stoked those rumors himself during All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, refusing to close the door on a third stint with the Cavs. He later reaffirmed his commitment to the franchise.

“I see myself being with the Purple and Gold as long as I can play,” James told reporters Friday. “But I also have a goal that if it’s possible—I don’t even know if it’s possible—and if I can play with my son [Bronny], I would love to do that. Is that something that any man would want one day in life? That’s the coolest thing that could possibly happen. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be with this franchise.”

Even if the Lakers wanted to divorce themselves from James, they have little recourse in doing so. No team is going to trade the assets required to land LeBron James without the express written approval of LeBron James. He’s not giving it—at least not yet. The Lakers can’t deal with the potential backlash of shopping someone as powerful around the league as James without his approval.

These two sides are married to one another, even if the relationship is in a bit of a rut at the moment.