In 1992, Shaquille O’Neal was waiting for June 24 to arrive when his name would be called as the number one pick at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland. However, as he began his NBA journey, 20-year-old Shaq preferred to keep mum about his future in the league. However, the dominant LSU center’s silence prompted a lot of speculations and rumors among fans.
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Shaq’s hush-hush approach before the 1992 Draft concerned a lot of Orlando Magic fans, who had expected that their number-one pick would change the fortunes of the brand-new franchise. The rumor mills were hyper-focused on the Los Angeles Lakers making a potential trade for the LSU superstar.
Despite this lingering anxiety among Magic fans, Shaq held on to his silence. He was afraid that he would “jinx” his chances of being the number one draft pick if he spoke up. In his 2011 memoir, Shaq Uncut: My Story, Shaq described his inner turmoil during the build-up to the Draft. O’Neal admitted to depriving Orlando fans of the pre-draft hype as a 20-year-old star prospect.
“As the actual draft day approached, the people in Orlando were getting nervous because I hadn’t said anything about their team, their city, or their players. It was a big moment for them and my silence was kind of spoiling it, I guess,” Shaquille O’Neal recalled in the 2011 memoir.
The center then lamented that the rumors of the Lakers getting him in a trade just increased the anxiety among Orlando fans. Conversely, he registered that his then-agent Leonard Armato would have been over the moon if the Lakers had really grabbed him. However, unlike what rumors suggested, the agent was working on a record-breaking rookie deal with the Magic.
In actuality, Shaq was afraid that if he opened up about coming to Orlando as the number one draft pick, he might fall in the draft rankings. He feared that such desires could spell a bad omen. The big man noted, “Here is the reason I didn’t say much. I’m very superstitious, and I wasn’t going to talk about being the No. 1 pick until I actually was drafted as the No. 1 pick.”
Eventually, these fears were allayed for Shaq and the Orlando fans on draft night after David Stern announced that the Orlando Magic had selected him as the number one pick.
Orlando Magic fans rejoiced when Shaquille O’Neal joined them
When the big fella was drafted by the Magic, their fans could sense the huge transformation. They knew that this number one draft pick would allow them to celebrate more wins in the future. Meanwhile, for Shaq, the moment was overwhelming and also one of joy. When Stern announced his name, brimming with a smile, the pleasantly surprised youngster could be heard saying “Me, me”. The 20-year-old proudly wore the cap with the Magic’s name on it.
The instant superstar gifted a lot of memorable moments to Orlando since his rookie year itself during the 992-93 season. In just his third season, he carried the Magic, who had never won a playoff game before that season, to the 1995 Finals. He also finished second in MVP voting behind David Robinson. Playing in just four seasons with the Magic, Shaq created a magnum opus that is rare in the league. It is not surprising that on February 13, the Orlando Magic will retire his #32 jersey.
