Lakers to Trade LeBron James? Shaquille O'Neal Issues Stark Warning to Los Angeles Team

Shaquille O'Neal, a four-time NBA champion, warned the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday that trading the team's biggest star, LeBron James, would be a terrible mistake despite an abysmal season.

In an interview with CNBC, O'Neal said: "If you trade LeBron, you'll never win again."

Lakers won a title with LeBron James during the 2019-20 season, but they have struggled in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 games. Injuries of James and Anthony Davis have plagued the Lakers for the previous two seasons.

Los Angeles has been even worse this season, as it currently owns the No. 9 spot in the West with a 27-33 record and left with only 22 games remaining in the 2021-22 campaign.

According to FiveThirtyEight's Prediction Model, the team has a 9 percent probability of making the playoffs. Despite this, James is having an MVP-caliber season, which might be why Shaquille O'Neal believes the Lakers will be doomed if they trade the four-time champion.

Shaquille O'Neal Says Lakers' Definitely Going to Win' if LeBron James Is Around the Right Guy

LeBron James' contract with the Lakers expires in 2023. Trading James may be the "easiest and quickest way" to fix the team's disconnect, said host Colin Cowherd in the latest episode of his midday talk show, "The Herd."

Alongside Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three championships in his eight seasons with the team. The franchise traded the 7′1 former center to the Miami Heat in 2004.

According to O'Neal, who also works as a TNT broadcaster, the Lakers "are definitely going to win" if they focus and put James around "the right guys."

During Sunday night's devastating 123-95 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, Lakers fans booed their own team at Crypto.com Arena.

Shaquille O'Neal also confessed that he had been booed previously and that it was "not a good feeling," Lakers Daily reported.

Shaquille O'Neal Shares Experience as Both Franchisee and Franchisor

The former All-Star made his remarks during the International Franchise Association's annual convention, where he also spoke with CNBC about his experience as a franchisee and franchisor of multiple restaurants.

Shaquille O'Neal owns nine Papa John's franchises and one Krispy Kreme franchise. He's also the co-owner and franchisor of "Big Chicken," a fast-growing chicken restaurant.

"I learned from the great Magic Johnson that it's okay to be a superstar basketball player, but at some point you want to go and invest in businesses," O'Neal noted.

He added that "as a simple model, if it works and you follow the rules, they will continue to work." Over the years, O'Neal was gotten out of various franchises, including Auntie Anne's, Five Guys, and 24 Hour Fitness.

Just this year, he was forced to close his L.A. restaurant, Shaquille's, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He refused to reveal his business' profits.

According to the International Franchise Association, franchise growth is expected to stabilize in 2022, expanding by 2.2 percent to reach a total of 792,014 franchise establishments across the country.

The group has also found that franchising encourages higher rates of entrepreneurship among women, non-white business owners, and underrepresented groups - 26 percent of franchises are owned by people of color.

According to Shaquille O'Neal, "if you stick to the core values of what's being taught, a lot of times you can't go wrong" in the franchise industry.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

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