Lakers to erect nine-foot, 1,200-pound statue of Shaquille ONeal

Just call him the Big Statue. At least, that will be the case come March, when Shaquille O’Neal is set to be honored by the Lakers with a bronze likeness outside of Staples Center.

Of course, with the larger-than-life O’Neal, no simple representation will do, so the team has commissioned quite the statue. The Lakers said Tuesday that it will be nine feet tall, weigh 1,200 pounds and be suspended 10 feet in the air.

O’Neal was named NBA Finals MVP during all three of the Lakers’ consecutive title runs during his time in Los Angeles, which spanned from 1996 to 2004. He was also named the 2000 NBA MVP and went to seven all-star games as a Laker.

The team said that it was using the same sculpture team that had created statues in honor of Laker greats Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Jerry West and longtime announcer Chick Hearn. Other Los Angeles sports icons immortalized at Staples Center include Wayne Gretzky and Oscar De La Hoya.

O’Neal’s statue will be unveiled before a game against the Timberwolves on March 24, and the ceremony will feature speeches by the ex-center and what the team described as “teammates, colleagues and friends from his unprecedented career.” The Lakers did not specify if one particularly noted teammate, Kobe Bryant, will participate in the ceremony.

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