I am with you on this. He was around 310-320 when he was a lil younger. He has to be about 360, 370ish at least. He has hardly any definition anymore.
I think he started to gain a lot of weight after he won the first NBA championship. He was around 295 when he joined NBA.
Don't forget they're a bunch of fairweather fans as well. I just can't believe all the dumb roster moves they've made over the years. G-Rice for Elden Campbell and Eddie Jones to Charlotte was a big stinker. Letting Van Exel go? Sheesh. That was a lot of talent they've turned loose to please that titantic whiner Shaq and stupid Mr. I-Want-To-Be-Jordan-But-I'm-Not-Even-Close Kobe. They had the roleplayers they needed. They just were stupid and traded them away. Personally, nothing more would please me to see the Lakers disintergrate.
I think Shaqs weight had a lot to do with their playoff exit, but Kobe shooting 43% and having more turnovers than assists in the Spurs series was just as bad. Back to Shaqs weight... everyone wants to compare Dream in his prime vs Shaq in his prime. I think that is a great matchup, but I would love to see rookie Dream vs. rookie Shaq. That would be awesome, until the fight broke out. Shaq was like 290 (?) and quick. He didn't have the footwork or post moves, but ran in transition and cut to the basket for huge dunks. Also, Shaq was a much better offensive rebounder then vs.now. Dream was just a freak. Too quick, and could jump out of the gym. Didn't have great post moves or footwork, but he just dunked on everyone. Late 1980's - early 1990's Dream may have been the best offensive rebounder I have ever seen (I'm 24). Both guys were also on a short fuse. They wouldn't back down and the trash talk would get nasty. Second thought, they both might foul out in the 1st half.
