I'm watching the most boring NBA Finals ever and asking myself this. Did they try to resign him to the max? I remember during that time he had a child with his girlfriend in San Antonio he wasn't married to and this was looked down upon in the Orlando community but this seems like a ridiculous reason to not go after a player. Did Orlando just try to get away from him sort of like how Phoenix traded Kidd for issues with his wife? Atleast that was part of the reason they traded him, first round losses definetly don't help your cause. But Shaq didn't lose in the first round. The only thing holding back Shaq was Jordan and Jackson's 3-Headed Monster at center. Just wondering if anyone knows if Shaq left on his own and why if he did so? Or was it Orlando who just shut him out?
Shaq was offered 125 million by Los Angeles, and 120 by ORlando, I am not sure how this all worked out but I knew shaq had his bags packed before the season was over. He kept making refrences to how nice LA was and all the oportunites there. I dont think Orlando had a chance with him. He knew where he wanted to be
courtesy of CNNSI Orlando owner Rich DeVos, the Amway magnate and author of The Compassionate Capitalist stopped bidding at seven years, $115 million because in his mind he didn't want O'Neal if it was just about a bidding war. Shaq, of course, claimed it wasn't ... then took the Lakers' $121-million deal. "It wasn't about money," O'Neal said. "The Los Angeles Lakers gave me a good, fair deal, but money was not the main factor. I just want to go have fun, be young, drink Pepsi, and wear Reebok." Well, he also won an NBA title and a league MVP with the Lakers.
Shaq wanted to go to LA; not to mention that his agent, Leonard Armato, wanted him in LA....more endorsements, plus a way to further his horrible acting career into even newer lows. The local paper here ran a poll asking if Shaq was worth $100 million, and an overwhleming majority said no....granted it may have been biased, but the paper ran it anyway. DeVos offered $116 mill, at the time the highest offer - LA was at $110 mill. After DeVos stopped bidding higher, West cleared more room, offered $121 mill, and Shaq (of course) took the money. He may have won a title faster in Orlando, or may have won it as fast as he could when he did in LA....that much we won't know. He's a great player...but he really wanted out. Funny thing is - he has reportedly always been clamoring to come back as a player or resident (where he still owns a big house), even saying he'll run for sheriff in Orlando once he retires. We'll see how that turns out.
I'm not sure if he would have ever won a title with Orl. He definitely wouldn't have won it over the Bulls when MJ was still there. Soon after the Bulls run, that was when Penny ran into his annual injury bug... Shaq was a selfish player until Phil came along in 99-00. LA was the perfect situation for Shaq on and off the court.
in hindsight it was a perfect situation for him, but when he made the jump to LA it did not look like a very good move on his part. I think that ORlando team with shaq could have givin MJ a run for his money the last year of the run, but we will never know.
The same Orl team where Penny was the #2 guy? Please... Also, who was their coach at the time? Hill? Orl would have been the 2nd best team in the East, but they would have lost in 5 games to Chi. O'Neal was basically the same player from 95 to 99. Not until Phil came, did Shaq really grasp the idea that he'll need to pass out of double and triple teams.
His agent, Leonard Armato also lived in LA and Jerry West kind of became a father figure of a sort for him and was a major part of getting him to LA. Shaq was basicaly perswaded that there was more fame, fortune, and chance of winning in LA.
Yeah Kid it was also the same team that had nick anderson and grant hill. that was a very good team, they were very young and within 2 years. . . . . . thats when Jordan left the league again. their coach was Chuck Dailey. He is a much better coach than HIll was. You act like Penny was chopped liver, he was billed as the next Magic. He was a great player before his injuries, if he has shaq there taking the load off Pennys shoulders, does he get hurt??? who knows. that team had the ability to be a very very good team. then again you have your perfect hindsight goggles on and can tell exactly what would have happened if shaq had stayed Go look at shaqs stats from 98 and compaire them to this years. Phil made shaq take a quantum leap, I think the maturation of Kobe has more to do with the lakers winning than Phil, although phil helped put all the peices together
He wasn't to fond of Bob Hill for one. He said he was a big fish in a small pond in Orlando,in La he's a big fish in a big pond. It looks like he made the best decision because Penny started getting hurt, and Nick Anderson never recovered from the ft fiasco. He knew that pretty much every yr West was going to put a good team on the floor. Before he got there he had a pg,sg, and pf in the mix.Adding him was the icing on the cake. Then on top of that they added Kobe Bryant to the mix. All they needed was someone to run the show. The only thing they probably regret and really probably don't is the Jones,Campbell for Rice. Had Jones been this teams 3rd scorer in the triangle along with Campbell, they would challenge the Bulls record.
