Credit: ClutchPoints

Shaq With High Praise Towards Former Teammate Luke Walton

Four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal had only words of praise for former teammate Luke Walton at his jersey retirement ceremony in Miami on Thursday night.

Luke Walton—a role player during his professional career and now Los Angeles Lakers head coach—was selected as the 32nd overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft by the Lakers. He and Shaquille O’Neal were teammates in Los Angeles during his rookie year in 2003-2004; O’Neal’s last season alongside Kobe Bryant before arriving in Miami as a member of the Heat.
The two caught up Thursday night at American Airlines Arena where O’Neal had his No. 32 jersey retired. Walton was in attendance because his team—the Los Angeles Lakers—squared off against the Miami Heat.

O’Neal had some nice words to say about his former teammate. “Luke [Walton] was definitely a great, unselfish player,” O’Neal admitted. “We always talked about the game. We always talked about his crazy father (Bill Walton) and all that stuff. One thing I always liked about Luke [Walton] was that he always looked for me in the game. He would penetrate and he [had] the ability to score and was a pretty good player, but he would always give me little, easy drop-off passes, and I tried to return the favor for him.”

The retired legend comically admitted, “[Luke] Walton was probably the only rookie that he never hazed, because he hazed everybody.” “He was just a nice kid,” O’Neal explained. “A good looking kid. Curly hair. He was just too sweet. I didn’t want to crush him.”

Shaquille O’Neal’s soft side was definitely exposed when talking about his buddy, Luke Walton. The 2000 MVP once admitted in the past that Walton was one of his most intelligent teammates on, and off the court.