Before Shaquille O’Neal won championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat, he suited in an Orlando Magic uniform. Drafted as the number one overall pick by the Magic, Shaq entered the league in 1992. The 3x Finals MVP stayed with the franchise for four years before leaving for the Lakers in 1996, which left the Magic loyals in disbelief. When the Lakers’ newest recruit was asked about returning to play in Orlando by ‘The New York Times‘ in 1996, he had a very nonchalant response.
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One of the major reasons the four-time NBA champion decided to leave the Orlando Magic to join the Los Angeles Lakers was his salary. The Lakers’ GM at the time – Jerry West, offered the player a max contract worth $120 million. This led to an outrage among the Orlando fans, who referred to him as greedy and a sell-out. So, when Shaq was going to return to the arena to play against his team for the first time, he was expecting – ”It’ll probably be crazy. I’ll probably get booed. But, hey, I’ve been booed many, many times. I’ve been booed in high school. Oh my God. Bad.”
However, the seven-foot center was not afraid of being booed. In fact, it did not bother him if the entire country was booing him as long as the Lakers’ fan base showed their support. He said to ‘The New York Times’ reporter, “I mean, I get booed at Seattle, at Chicago. As long as I don’t get booed at home. If I go to the Forum and I get booed, then I worry. But if Orlando boos me, am I going to be upset? No. They’re supposed to do that.” The player admitted to doing the same if he were in the fan’s position. He said, “I would do it, too. I would boo Shaq’s butt, too.”
It was clear that Shaq was not bothered by the Orlando fans and was ready to show out in front of his former team. He was expecting to walk in there and show them his million-dollar smile. Or he calls it the Hollywood smile. He says, “But you know what? I’m going to show all these teeth right here. These Hollywood teeth of mine. See, this tooth here? I paid for that one. The Hollywood smile. All I’ll do is smile.”
It’s this playful personality that had fans loving Shaq all over the country, and he remains the same person to date.
Shaquille O’Neal’s record against the Orlando Magic
Even though Shaquille O’Neal left the Orlando Magic for more money, he kept a little grudge because the owners were not willing to pay him the maximum amount. The player had carried the team to the NBA finals and re-ignited Orlando basketball. So, whenever he played against his former team, there was always an extra motivation. The NBA champion ended his career with an 18-8 record against the Magic. He also averaged 23.4 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, and 2.7 assists per game.
With everything that happened between the Magic franchise and Shaquille O’Neal, the team recently announced that they will be retiring his jersey. It will be the first-ever jersey to be retired in the history of the franchise.
Shaquille O’Neal already has his jersey retired by the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat. He will become only the second player to have his jersey hanging in three different NBA franchise arenas. The event is scheduled to take place on February 13th. The player was congratulated by the ‘NBA on TNT’ crew as they celebrated the moment in typical fashion.
