Charles Barkley on the new-look Los Angeles Lakers and the additions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard to its core of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol: “It’s enough to win the world championship. He [Dwight Howard] can play power forward. He’s [Howard] athletic enough to play power forward and I think this just makes the Lakers the team to beat.”
Barkley on how he envisions the Lakers looking this season with the new additions: “I think Steve Nash is going to help Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant a lot because they are going to be a much more athletic team on the fast break. Dwight Howard is the most athletic big man in the NBA so he is going to work great with Steve Nash. Gasol is the best post-up big man in the NBA. The Lakers are loaded.”
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Shaquille O’Neal on his move from Orlando to Los Angles and the pressures that Dwight Howard will be facing: “The pressure that he has been feeling in Orlando has just multiplied by three now. The first thing the great Jerry West [former Los Angeles Lakers head coach] did when I signed with the Lakers is he walked me into the Forum and told me to look up. He showed me all the great big men that played before me and how many championships they won. The Lakers have a tradition of having great big men. He has a lot of work ahead of him. If he thinks the Orlando Sentinel was on his case when he didn’t perform, guys like [Los Angeles Times columnist] Bill Plaschke, they don’t play.”
O’Neal on how the Lakers fans will embrace Dwight Howard: “The first year they are going to love him, but the second and third year, if they don’t win, he will be back to square one.”
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Reggie Miller on the impact this trade will have on the Orlando Magic: “You know this happened 16 years ago with Shaquille O’Neal and once again lightening has struck. It is unfortunate. If you are the GM of Orlando or a fan of Orlando, it is a slow and unbelievable day for your franchise. Hopefully the fans won’t jump off the bandwagon. It is going to be a long few years for the Orlando Magic.”
Miller on what to expect from Andrew Bynum this season as he joins the Philadelphia 76ers: “[I expect] an All-Star year. We know Coach [Doug] Collins and he’s going to design an offense to get Andrew Bynum involved. He always wanted to be the focus of a team and now he has a chance. Now he can be a dominant center in the Eastern Conference. He should be happy about this deal because now he is going to be the centerpiece of a franchise.”
Miller on Andre Iguodala being traded to the Denver Nuggets: “I think Andre Iguodala is going to fit right in with the Denver Nuggets.”
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Chris Webber and his first reaction to the news of the Dwight Howard trade: “My reaction was, wow, Orlando should be kicking themselves.”
Webber on Orlando having a plan B: “I don’t think they can have a plan B unless another seven-foot monster is born and I mean that in a positive way. When you lose him and Shaq it says something. If I’m an Orlando fan, my heart is broken twice. First we lost Shaq and now we lose Dwight Howard.”
Webber on who will dominate in the Western Conference – Oklahoma City Thunder or the Los Angeles Lakers: “It is not even close. I love the Lakers. When you look at Pau Gasol individually he is a good player but, when you put Gasol with Dwight Howard, he becomes a great player. I have to give the Lakers – with experience – the advantage now.”
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