Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal are two of the greatest to ever play the game. They are arguably the greatest duo to ever live, and they won three titles together with the Los Angeles Lakers. And the credit of getting these two greats to the Lakers goes to one man, Jerry West.

West was a Lakers legend who went to nine finals with them. He was considered to be one of the greatest ever and the NBA honored West by making the Logo. He has also served as a head coach with the Lakers and as General Manager with several teams. After realizing Magic Johnson was going to retire at the end of the 1996 season, West realized the Lakers needed a makeover. He traded to acquire Shaq from the Orlando Magic and he moved up the draft to sign a 17-year-old Kobe Bryant. But that took a heavy toll on West, as he had to be hospitalized at the end of it.

Jerry West was taken to the hospital after acquiring Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal

After acquiring the two players, West was drained of energy. He had to be hospitalized for three days. He adds, “It was one of the elated periods of my life when we signed Shaquille O’Neal because I worked so hard in doing that with establishing a relationship with him over the phone…I like the kid, I like to have fun with people and I never took myself seriously.”

“But I also told our owner that night that I think we got the best player in the draft… I remember after that was done and the draft was done I had to go to the hospital for three days…The day after that I went to see the doctor and he said ‘we are going to have to put you in the hospital’… But that the start of another great run for the Lakers”.

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Even though West was to taken to the hospital, he was happy that he could secure the two stars. And it was worth it, as Kobe and Shaq combined to form another Lakers dynasty. Even though they had several issues in their run, they won 3 straight titles and cement their place as one of the greatest duos to ever live. And all the props go to Jerry West.

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