The story of Shaq vs. Kobe is an interesting one for the LA Lakers. In the summer of 2004, after having three-peated and then being back-to-back runner ups, the reign of Shaq and Kobe in LA came to an end as the Lakers chose to re-sign Kobe and Shaq demanded to be traded.
http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jun...orts/sp-shaq19
Up to that point, Shaq was clearly the better player than Kobe. However, the Lakers were gambling that Shaq was on the verge of showing his age, while Kobe was still up and coming.
In the end, the Lakers were validated, although there was certainly some remorse over the deal as the Miami Heat (Shaq's new team) made the NBA Finals two seasons later and the Lakers had the first losing season in a decade following the Shaq trade. However, they made it back to the finals again last year and are looking strong again.
The following graphs tell the story through the data. Using Position Adjusted Win Score per minute (PAWSmin) statistics and then extrapolating these stats to Wins Produced per 48 minutes (WP48), I've illustrated seasonal performance for both players. You can read more about these stats here, http://dberri.wordpress.com/2007/02/...re-statistics/.
http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jun...orts/sp-shaq19
Up to that point, Shaq was clearly the better player than Kobe. However, the Lakers were gambling that Shaq was on the verge of showing his age, while Kobe was still up and coming.
In the end, the Lakers were validated, although there was certainly some remorse over the deal as the Miami Heat (Shaq's new team) made the NBA Finals two seasons later and the Lakers had the first losing season in a decade following the Shaq trade. However, they made it back to the finals again last year and are looking strong again.
The following graphs tell the story through the data. Using Position Adjusted Win Score per minute (PAWSmin) statistics and then extrapolating these stats to Wins Produced per 48 minutes (WP48), I've illustrated seasonal performance for both players. You can read more about these stats here, http://dberri.wordpress.com/2007/02/...re-statistics/.
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