O'Neal joined the Lakers because he actually took advantage of the right time, location, and people. He was originally planning to stay in Orlando, but the Magic management made frequent mistakes and forced the Sharks away.
Time: The Orlando Magic took advantage of the situation and the Lakers took advantage
O'Neal missed the first 22 regular season games of the 1995-1996 season, but under the leadership of Hardaway, the Magic still achieved 17 With a good record of wins and 5 losses, Hardaway and O'Neal are also very similar to the relationship between Kobe and O'Neal of the Lakers. The two are both teammates and competition. When Hardaway's rapid growth, many people have questions: Who is the boss in Orlando? doubt.
O'Neal's four-year rookie contract expired at the end of the season. This year, he averaged 36 minutes per game, shooting 58.4% from the field, averaging 26.6 points, 11 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 2.1 assists per game. Block shot.
He will definitely sign a big contract, but how big will it be? O'Neal didn't think about leaving the Magic at the time. After all, he was only 24 years old, and everything in the team looked bright. However, Gabriel, the team's vice president in charge of player contract renewals, initially only offered O'Neal a four-year, $5,400 salary. After negotiation, the price was later increased to US$80 million over four years.
Just when O'Neal was preparing to accept this contract, news came out from the NBA that the Washington Bullets renewed Juwan Howard for 7 years and 105 million, and Alonso Mourning reached a 7-year, 105 million contract with the Heat. With a contract extension of 100 million yuan, the NBA has officially entered the era of 100 million yuan. Seeing that its opponents who were obviously inferior to themselves received sky-high contracts, O'Neal's team increased the renewal price to 150 million yuan over seven years.
The Magic hesitated at this time. During the negotiation process, the Magic made two more stupid moves. The first was to play the emotional card, telling O'Neal that if the team renewed his contract at such a high price, then next year It may not be possible to keep Hardaway; the second one is to criticize the low price tag. The top management publicly criticized O'Neal's defensive attitude and rebounding ability. At this time, the media in Orlando also acted as "pig teammates", and the "Orlando Sentinel" launched a "? Is O'Neal worth 150 million? ?'s large-scale survey, the results of which most people feel are not worth it, which makes O'Neal completely chilled. Whose team is this? Everything he does for the team seems to be of no value.
Poor location: The Los Angeles Lakers suddenly broke out of the temptation of the big metropolitan market
The Los Angeles Lakers, one of the two most successful teams in the history of the NBA team, are also eyeing it at this time For O'Neal, who is in the period of hesitation, O'Neal's opportunity in Los Angeles is not only about the court, Hollywood's Vanity Fair, a super city, more endorsements, crazy fans, a glorious team history, and more importantly, his own team. Perhaps they can write a new legend in their history. Compared with the Orlando Magic's "saucy operation", the Los Angeles Lakers are really a good choice for O'Neal.
Renhe: West’s ingenious plan to settle the world and set a new record in Shark’s Journey to the West
Compared with how stingy Gabriel is, the prototype of the NBA’s LOGO? The Godfather of the Lakers? Jerry Weiss Te is much more paunchy. ?We may not have that much space right now, but give me some time and let me see what I can do. ?This legend who created the Lakers ShowTime era makes O'Neal feel highly respected.
On draft day, West traded main center Divac from the Hornets for a 13th overall shooting guard. At that time, many people were not optimistic about this deal. After all, this was Kobe Bryant. This kid is less than 18 years old and has never played an NBA game.
After sending away Divac, George Lynch, and Pillar one after another, the Lakers offered their 7-year $120 million contract, the largest contract in NBA history. At this time, the Magic panicked. But their final offer was only 109 million over seven years, and they were emotionally moved by O'Neal, but Shark's joining the Los Angeles Lakers was irreversible.
At that time, O'Neal and Hardaway were preparing for the 1996 Olympics. At this time, Pence didn't know any news. When O'Neal said that he had joined the Lakers, Pence was confused. He struggled with the combination of the Sharks. Three years later, he set a team record for wins, a team record for reaching the Finals, and the league's most effective inside and outside partnership? At this time, the Magic finally became Hardaway's one-man team, and O'Neal's Magic era was over. .
They were supposed to start a dynasty belonging to the Magic, but a dynasty died in the ascendant. At this time, O'Neal wanted to start a new era of NBA with another extremely talented shooting guard.
The following story ushered in a new chapter, belonging to the OK Lakers era. With the joining of Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant grew day by day. From 2000 to 2002, O'Neal led the Lakers to win three consecutive championships. NBA champion, he won three Finals MVPs himself. His dominance reached its peak. In the 1999-2000 season, he became the regular season MVP, All-Star Game MVP, and Finals MVP, making him the first player to win all MVPs in the same season since Jordan in 1998.
Because of their stinginess and stupid moves, the Orlando Magic missed out on this super center who could change the history of the team and even the structure of the NBA. They were lucky enough to get O'Neal, but they did not have the ability to retain O'Neal. The Magic are good at detecting and cultivate super centers, but they did not have the ability to retain super centers. In 2012, another center from the Magic, Dwight Howard, joined the Lakers, and the Magic once again made a wedding dress for the Lakers.