Shaq: Lakers a 'long way' from contention

Shaquille O'Neal knows what a championship contender looks like, and right now, the Los Angeles Lakers are definitely not that.

Speaking on the eve of his Hall of Fame induction, O'Neal told reporters that while he's intrigued by the Lakers' infusion of young talent, they're nowhere close to becoming a contender.

"They’re definitely going to be exciting," O’Neal said Thursday. "But I don’t see them being a contender for a while. I mean, they’ve still got to go up against Golden State in the West, they’ve got to go up against OKC, still got to go up against Cleveland, the Rockets. So they have a long way to go to be a contender."

At least the Lakers are headed in the right direction. O'Neal is a fan of No. 2 overall pick Brandon Ingram, and the team has installed Shaq's former teammate Luke Walton as their new head coach.

“I like Ingram,” O’Neal said. “Think he needs to get a little bit stronger, but I think Luke is going to come to some type of system where’s he’s going to be out on the perimeter, doesn’t need to post up that much.”

But as far as championship contention - or even threatening to make the playoffs - that's way off in the distance. Only the Philadelphia 76ers have won fewer games than Los Angeles over the past two seasons; it will take a long time to climb out of the basement.