The Lakers retired former Los Angeles star Shaquille O’Neal’s jersey during halftime of Tuesday’s home game.
The ceremony was filled with awkward moments as Shaq went into full entertainer mode, ex-Lakers coach Phil Jackson spoke about Shaq as a chorus of “We Want Phil” chants rained down from the fans, and Kobe Bryant remained in the locker room while his former teammate and rival was honored.
Now comes word that the ceremony went completely wrong on another dimension, as O’Neal’s now rafter-bound jersey was misprinted with his name and jersey number printed on the front rather than the back of the jersey, as is accustomed based on every jersey ever worn ever.
The Lakers have looked to correct the error and will have the changed jersey up for tomorrow night’s home game.
The misprint begs the question: How on earth did this happen?
Has there ever been a jersey made with the player’s name on the front as a precedent? Had the person making the jersey ever seen a jersey before? How did this pass through some chain of command to be unveiled in a halftime ceremony to honor one of the most dominant and popular players of all time?
This seems like a hilarious case of ineptitude.