It could be that, but I mean c'mon, Shaq was Shaq and he was still widely respected at the time despite not having rings.
That team was 1 yr away from having Phil (Kurt Rambis just couldn't cut the mustard in that 98-99 shortened season as an interim after the firing of Del Harris), Ron Harper and Brian Shaw.
It was just really bad timing. The Lakers should have waited the following yr when Phil came to LA in the summer of '99.