Ask Shaquille O’Neal who his greatest teammate was and he’d answer Kobe Bryant without hesitating. They made it to the four NBA Finals together and won the title thrice. They fit together perfectly. The guard handles the ball, while the center dominates in the paint. It was the perfect recipe for success. The Lakers knew pairing the two would work wonders because O’Neal and Penny Hardaway had already laid out the blueprint. They could have been the duo to win it all had the Magic not been stingy and Hardaway still ponders what could’ve been.
Advertisement
Orlando was seemingly destined for success. They made it to the NBA Finals in 1995 after beating the Bulls and the Eastern Conference Finals in 1996 with O’Neal and Hardaway leading the charge. It seemed only a matter of time before the young duo brought a championship to the then-young franchise.
However, the center’s contract was set to expire in 1996 and he wanted to become the highest-paid player in the league. The Magic didn’t think he was worthy. In fact, the entire city felt he wasn’t. They had just seen him shoot 48.7% from the free throw line in the regular season and a horrendous 39.3% in the playoffs.
The astonishing lack of appreciation for his seismic talent irked O’Neal. And Hardaway believes it pushed him to leave Orlando. Recalling what transpired in the lead-up to the center’s exit from Magic on the Knuckleheads Podcast, the retired guard said,
“We had young fans who didn’t know better. We had immature beat writers that were ragging on Shaq because he couldn’t make free throws… I was like, ‘Are y’all kidding me? Y’all got to chill.’ [But the criticism] pissed Shaq off. So, if he wasn’t looking to go anywhere, at that point, the Lakers and Jerry West came in and was like, ‘Hey big fella. They don’t appreciate you down there. Come out here in LA and let us show you what it’s like.'”
The allure of Hollywood and a historic seven-year, $120 million contract offer was enough to sway O’Neal. He bid adieu to Florida and moved to sunny California to play for the Lakers. While the team of the 1980s became the team of the 2000s with O’Neal and Bryant, the Magic never had their era.
The center was vindicated. His free throw issues mattered little in the grand scheme. If Orlando could turn back the clock to 1996, they would re-sign O’Neal in a heartbreak. And the Hall of Famer would have no qualms about staying.
Shaq wishes he stayed with the Magic
In fact, O’Neal claimed he would have stayed without a record-breaking contract offer if he had a do-over. When the Magic retired his jersey earlier this year, he admitted he wished he stayed with the team at least a bit longer if not forever. He told reporters,
“Do I regret [leaving in 1996]? I never fully answered. I regret it sometimes. This is where I started, where I should’ve stayed. I actually wish that they [had] made it a law that whoever drafted you, you’ve got to stay there your whole career. No trades. No nothing. No free agency. No anything like that. Do I regret it? I regret it only because the DeVos family, they deserve a couple [of championships].”
Tears in @SHAQ‘s eyes after Magic Hall of Fame induction. Said if he would have stayed if he had it to do over. pic.twitter.com/mtQjv3H4mo
— Kyle Hightower (@khightower) March 27, 2015
O’Neal also apologized to Hardaway during an episode of the Big Podcast with Shaq for letting media chatter and fan criticism dictate his decision to abandon him and the Magic for Bryant and the Lakers. He said,
“Now that I’m looking back, why did we break up? Egos. Other people were talking and that was the only time I broke the professional jealousy thing…When they said it wasn’t my team anymore, it hurt a little bit. Since they said it wasn’t my team, it’s [Penny’s] team now, let’s see what the other teams want to offer me. I would like to take the time to apologize to you.”
The Hall of Fame center is proud of his four championship wins and often brags about it, especially to Charles Barkley. But all that hardware hasn’t stopped him from pondering about a life where he stayed in Orlando and won a championship with Hardaway.
