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The Los Angeles Lakers honored Shaquille O’Neal with a statue outside of Staples Center on Friday night, and many Lakers greats were on hand for the ceremony.

We’ll first take a look at the statue being unveiled:

A nine-foot, 1,200-pound statue of Shaq throwing down a huge a dunk is a pretty perfect way to honor the Lakers’ three-time NBA Finals MVP.

And the speeches given by other Lakers legends were pretty great too.

Magic Johnson was not in attendance, but sent along this three-minute video message:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had jokes about Shaq and Kobe Bryant’s relationship (more on that later):

Jerry West said he loves Shaq “like a son”:

But the highlight had to be Kobe, as it’s been well-documented that he and Shaq had a bit of a rocky relationship over the years. Kobe called Shaq the “most dominant player [he’s] ever seen”, and finished his speech by telling Shaq “much love to you my brother.”

And then of course, Shaq’s speech:

[NBATV]

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

He can be followed on Twitter at @Matt2Clapp (also @TheBlogfines for Cubs/MLB tweets and @DaBearNecess for Bears/NFL tweets), and can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

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