Shaquille O’Neal was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Miami Heat in the summer of 2004 after it was clear that him alongside Kobe Bryant was simply not a viable option any longer. The tandem had brought glory back to the City of Angels with three straight titles but their journey together ended after 8 years together.
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Pat Riley and the Heat had their own budding superstar shooting guard in Dwyane Wade who looked to replicate the magic of the Lakers’ titles with ‘The Big Aristotle’. During that 2004-05 season, Shaq remained on his contract that he had signed with the Lakers that paid him around $30 million.
After losing to the Pistons in the 2005 NBA Playoffs, Shaq and the Heat had to agree upon a new contract as he was an unrestricted free agent. With him understanding that he only had a handful of years left in the league, O’Neal wanted security over anything else.
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Shaquille O’Neal took a pay cut for Antoine Walker
Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t the same MVP-esque, 30 ppg scorer from the 90s and early 20s when it came to his play in 2005 and beyond. He accepted a secondary role to Dwyane Wade and it was for the better as they would go on to win a championship in 2006 with Wade snagging his first and only Finals MVP.
While Shaq understood he wasn’t worth $30 million a year, he did want to have a certain sense of fiscal security with his contract. So, he opted for a longer contract that went up to 5 years instead of one that was about 2-3 years longer.
There was however, another reason as to why the 4x champ went for a longer contract that stretched out how much he would get paid per year. It was because Antoine Walker wanted to come to the Miami Heat.
“Antoine Walker came to us in a trade. He was a veteran who could score. ’Toine called me up before he got dealt to Miami and asked me if I would be willing to take a pay cut so they could fit him under the salary cap. He told me he really wanted to play with me, so, being a team player, I took an extension that was a five-year deal for $100 million with the money spread out instead of the three-year deal which would have paid me over $30 million a season,” said Shaq.
During that 2005-06 season with the Heat, Walker got himself a ring after averaging close to 13 points per game and shooting 35.8% from beyond the arc.
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