“Can’t Pay You More than Penny Hardaway”: Shaquille O’Neal Was Almost Finessed Out of $23 Million By Jerry West Amid Tensions with Magic

Shaquille O’Neal in Orlando Magic was a player many believed would eventually devour the league. His talent was scary and his numbers spoke for themselves. But despite all that talent, Magic did not value O’Neal as much as they did their other star, Penny Hardaway.

In 1992, Orlando drafted Shaq as the first overall pick. In 1993, they again lucked upon the first overall pick, when they acquired Anfernee Hardaway from Golden State Warriors. But the combination of Diesel and Penny only led to chaos.

The Magic began to favor Penny and Shaquille O’Neal was painfully aware of it. But he still believed they would not disrespect him by offering him a contract that was woefully law. Unfortunately, Orlando Magic did exactly that. That is when Jerry West swooped in to acquire the 7ft 1″ superstar. In fact, he almost made O’Neal sign a $98 million contract.

Jerry West almost finessed Shaquille O’Neal out of $23 million

In his book Shaq uncut, O’Neal deep dives into what fractured his relationship with Orlando Magic. In 1996, Shaq, aware of his value, demanded a $115 million contract from Orlando.

They refused the demand and instead offered $80 million. Orlando justified their offer by casually telling O’Neal they couldn’t pay him more than Penny Hardaway.

Shaq: “We asked for $115 million. But they wouldn’t. They came back with four years, $80 million. I asked John Gabriel why they wouldn’t pay me what he knew I deserved and he said, “We don’t want to upset Penny. We can’t pay you more than Penny.”

Shaquille O’Neal: Penny Hardaway and I “definitely would have gotten” an NBA title if we had stayed together (via @ReidForgrave) https://t.co/ygVq2HcTuj pic.twitter.com/p7JZuZNtIL

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) April 4, 2018

Jerry West, who was the Lakers GM then, swooped in to offer O’Neal what Orlando couldn’t. West aimed to capitalize on the growing issues between Diesel and his first NBA team. West offered him a $98 million contract, and O’Neal, who had previously demanded a $115 million, readily agreed, motivated by the disrespect he had to face from Orlando.

O’Neal: “In the meantime, Jerry West, the general manager for the Lakers, is calling and telling us, “Listen, I know you deserve more than Juwan and Mourning, but right now all I can get you is $98 million.” I was so glad to hear that I told Leonard, “Let’s take it. Let’s take the $98 million and get this over with. I want to be somewhere where I’m wanted.” 

West eventually offered Diesel an even better contract

Jerry West, however, eventually offered him a much bigger contract. West, even before Shaq could accept the $98, called him up and informed him that he would try to get the Lakers to offer a $121 million contract.

Basically, $23 million more than Shaq was alright with. If he wanted, West could have easily gotten O’Neal for $98 million but he went out of his way to please the legendary big man.

To West’s credit, that extra $23 million eventually paved the way for the Lakers’ three-peat. If not for his generosity and genuine desire to keep Shaq happy, was an underrated move.