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The Los Angeles Lakers saw their reign atop the NBA end in 2002-03. The Lakers had won three straight NBA titles from 2000 to 2002, but after starting the season losing 11 out of their first 12 games, they never really got going, and despite finishing strong with a 50-32 regular season record, it was not meant to be, as they were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the eventual champions, the San Antonio Spurs.
After the season, much of the talk surrounding the Lakers was the need for Shaquille O'Neal to get in shape. Although O'Neal's fitness had always been a discussion in Tinseltown, it became an issue after they failed to win a fourth straight NBA title.
It did not help that Shaq began the season on the injured list after undergoing surgery on his right foot and toe during the offseason. That not only contributed to the Lakers' poor start. But O'Neal also started slowly and wasn't as dominant as he was during the championship run.
Shaq's team hired a personal trainer
And so during a June 2 meeting, Shaq promised head coach Phil Jackson and general manager Mitch Kupchak that he would get himself in better shape during the offseason. O'Neal then tasked his agent at the time, Perry Rogers and his business manager, Mike Parris, with finding the best man for the job.
After considering an extensive list of candidates, the duo settled on former Marine Corey Gilday, a certified fitness trainer and nutritionist from Oregon. They contracted Gilday to move to Orlando for the summer and help O'Neal get stronger, leaner, and healthier for the next season.
However, four days after he met with Phil and Mitch, Shaquille pushed back on the narrative that the Lakers were dethroned because he was not in shape.
"I think the only training I need is players that know their role and players that will give me the (bleeping) ball,"said O'Neal.
Shaq hired a trainer for the first time in his Lakers career
That marked the first time in O'Neal's career as a Laker that he hired a personal trainer. Before that summer, Shaq had always insisted that he would not train or work out during the offseason because it was the only rest his body would get as he was mauled the rest of the year.
"I got beat up all year. I never came into camp in shape because, one, I gotta rest, and I gotta pay my family back. I missed school plays; they don't wanna hear when the season is over that you gotta go work out. It don't matter how you start, it matters how you finish," said O'Neal.
Shaq and Corey ended up working out for 3 hours per day during the summer, combining conditioning, running, strength training, and jiu-jitsu. O'Neal dropped 35 pounds and saw his body fat lower by at least 3 percent.
However, the Diesel did not get much of the ball the next season with the likes of Karl Malone and Gary Payton joining the team. Shaq still led the NBA in free-throw attempts per game at 10.1, but he averaged a then-career-low 21.5 points per game in 2003-04, and the Lakers were upset in the NBA Finals by the Detroit Pistons.
Related: "It wasn't about money" - Why Shaquille O'Neal signed his $120M L.A. Lakers deal in 1996
