After his second season, Jones switched from number 25 to 6, as the Lakers had retired 25 for Gail Goodrich. He selected 6 as growing up he was a fan of Julius Erving. In the off-season, the team acquired superstar center Shaquille O'Neal, and traded Vlade Divac to the Hornets for rookie guard Kobe Bryant. Jones played and started in 80 games, placing second in the team in scoring with 17.2 points and fourth in the league in steals with 2.4 a game. He also played in his first NBA All-Star Game, scoring 10 points in 17 minutes in the 1997 NBA All-Star Game. Led by O'Neal, the Lakers won 56 games before defeating the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the playoffs but fell to the top-seeded Utah Jazz in five games in the conference semifinals. Jones struggled in the playoffs, as his scoring average fell to 11.2 in the postseason.