Shaquille O’Neal’s market value increased considerably after he helped the Los Angeles Lakers three-peat during the early 2000s. Hence, several teams were in a battle to acquire the big man when he expressed his desire to get traded in 2004. O’Neal’s preferred destination was the Dallas Mavericks. As history would have it, he ended up playing for the Miami Heat.
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The Hall of Famer gave no reasons but claimed that Lakers GM Mitchell Kupchak refused to do so. It could be possible that the Lakers didn’t want their Western Conference competitors to have the league’s best center playing alongside Dirk Nowitzki.
I was telling the Lakers ‘hey, trade me to Dallas’ and Mitch (Kupchak) was like ‘nope, we’re not gonna do it’,” Shaq said.
Earlier in the same podcast, Mark Cuban revealed that his front office tried everything possible to acquire the Big Aristotle. But, Miami’s GM Micky Arison won this race by using the same deal that Cuban proposed.
“We tried to trade for you, we tried to get you released, we tried to get you through somebody – trade you to somebody else, so they would release you, then I could sign you,” Cuban said.
The Lakers trading away Shaq was surprising in itself. During the eight seasons that he was in Los Angeles, the 7ft 1” star averaged 27 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game. The trade led to them acquiring Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant in exchange. Kobe Bryant was now the sole offensive superstar on the team and without any star help, led the Lakers to paltry Playoffs appearances and dismal regular season records.
On the other hand, the Miami Heat would instantly benefit from the deal, winning the 2006 championship. This came about after Shaq had accepted his role as the Robin to Dwyane Wade’s Batman after over a decade of wrestling with Penny Hardaway and Kobe on the same.
The Lakers wanted to pay Shaq less money
For a long time, the basketball world believed that Kobe Bryant was the reason Shaquille O’Neal parted ways with the franchise. Yes, the two did have a sour relationship off the court. But O’Neal put an end to this narrative and revealed the real reason that sparked his decision to leave LA—money.
“The reason I got traded, it wasn’t about me and Kobe (Bryant’s) beef. (It was) because they (the Lakers) wanted me to take less money. I’m not doing that,” Shaq said.
Shaq constantly asked for a pay raise during the 2003-2004 season, despite signing a three-year, $88.5 million contract before the campaign started. According to what he claimed years later, the Diesel was hoping for a contract worth $150 million.
Finances could have been a huge reason for his departure. However, one cannot deny that his volatile bond with Bryant also played a role in the same. The two were always bickering and also indulged in physical altercations during practice at times. Additionally, the organization’s actions showed that they were siding with the shooting guard so it made sense for O’Neal to bid farewell to the franchise that cemented his legacy as an all time great.
