Shaquille O’Neal 's time in Orlando was brief but filled with individual and team success. After he was drafted first overall in 1992, the Magic swiftly ascended the Eastern Conference ranks. By the 1994-1995 season, they reached the NBA Finals, only to be bested by Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets.
However, as quickly as the Magic rose, they fell flat on their faces in the summer of 1996 as Shaq stunned Orlando and made his way to Los Angeles to join the Lakers. While money certainly played a huge role in O'Neal's decision to leave the team that drafted him for the City of Angels, there were other reasons.
One of them was the tense relationship he had with the team’s brass for how they handled Shaq's situation following the death of his beloved grandmother, Odessa Chambliss.
O'Neal arrived late for a game vs. the Bulls
Shaq’s grandmother meant a great deal to him. She helped raise him when he was a young child and was still close to him even when he was already making a name for himself in the pros. Naturally, her death cut Shaq deeply, and it took him a while to get himself in the right frame of mind.
The Magic had a nationally televised game against Michael Jordan and the Bulls on Sunday, April 7, but team officials had no clue whether the big man would show up.
However, instead of covering for Shaq and explaining what he was going through to the media, team officials said they had no idea where the former LSU star was. In essence, they hung him out to dry.
“Those guys down there, they never stood up for me. They should have just said, ‘Shaq’s grandma died. Whenever he wants to come back, he can come back!' No, they have to go on TV and start talking about [he changes his voice to an authoritative tone], ‘The rule is you have to call!’” Shaq said in an interview with Slam Magazine.
“What do you mean call?! My grandma had just died. [She] died on a Thursday, I saw [Orlando Magic GM] John Gabriel on Friday, the funeral was Saturday, I played Sunday. [He drops his voice again] 'We have rules, and he didn't call!' Call what? I was crying all the time. This is my grandma, brah. Call why? They just never stuck up for me,” Shaq continued.
Bad blood spilled over to negotiations
Shaq became a free agent after the 1996-1996 season, and negotiations with the Magic went nowhere. Diesel felt the team's decision-makers were lowballing him. In addition, the franchise was prepared to hand the reins to rising star Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway. Shaq said he tried to explain where he was coming from , but it was all for nothing.
“I said, listen, if a BMW costs $115,000, how much do you think this is gonna cost?” Shaq said . “That's all I said. So then they were like, no, we're not gonna do it.”
“The Big Aristotle” eventually signed a seven-year deal with the Lakers worth $121 million. Together with the late great Kobe Bryant, he led the team to three straight NBA titles before joining the Miami Heat in 2004.
Related: Rasheed Wallace on the problems young Kobe gave him: "If I didn't know him or didn't love him, I would try to hurt that dude"
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