Understanding Shaquille O’Neal had to leave to further his career
Shaquille O’Neal will be inducted to the Magic Hall of Fame on Mar 27, but many fans feel that is a poor decision due to his departure. They’re just wrong.
July 18, 1996: The day is young. I was young, a budding 15 year old whose biggest concern was still basketball, not girls necessarily (though that was pretty darn important, too). I frequently called into WDBO 580 to talk Orlando Magic matters.
After waking up a little, I turned on the radio and the first thing I heard is that Shaquille O’Neal has signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, despite no one thinking it would happen.
But why should it NOT have been a surprise?
There are a number of reasons for that, and a full understanding of a player’s desires is necessary to understand why superstars choose to play mostly for bigger markets than the Orlando Magic.
The Orlando Sentinel ran a poll as to whether Shaq was worth $100 million. At that time, max contracts were slightly different, and the Magic low balled him. The Lakers offered significantly more money. The Magic had to play catch up just to get into the same ballpark.
So, that poll you ask?
The overwhelming majority of the fan base said he was not worth it. Why would a player devote his full effort to a city that does not fully value his services?
And that is just it: His services go beyond basketball.
Shaq is now a hilarious TV figure on TNT. He has rapped (albeit poorly in the eyes of some; I think he is pretty good). He has acted. And he has become beloved by most NBA fans. But, not all Magic fans certainly do not think fondly of him, because fans fail to understand that these players are working jobs.
If your co-workers, or in this case fans, are not appreciated, why give them a full effort and exert oneself just to be considered a workhorse for a dynasty. The Magic had the potential to form a dynasty, but that nasty poll and GM Pat Williams and owner Rich DeVos low-balling him drove him to the smoggy airs of Los Angeles to play with the L.A. Lakers — and with Kobe Bryant.
Thus, changing the course of Magic and NBA history.
Bitterness will be a theme of some fans before and after his induction this Friday, because O’Neal went on to win three championships with Bryant, and there could have been more still if not for ego clashing (a common refrain in O’Neal’s career). But then he went and won another in Miami, Orlando fans’ initially most hated rival (it has fizzled since the early days; trust me).
And meanwhile, the Magic did not make it back to the Finals until the Dwight Howard era.
There was a 17 year gap between appearances…! Let alone a dozen years between Playoff series victories.
And the Magic have a 1-8 record in the NBA Finals with losses to the Houston Rockets and the L.A. Lakers.
Against the Houston Rockets — O’Neal played superb against NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon, but the Rockets still managed to sweep the Magic, a team that had defeated Michael Jordan and the Bulls already despite being huge underdogs in the series.
The Rockets played better team ball and a better inside/outside game, which was more or less the theme of a lot offenses in the 90s but is a little less exploited due to centers becoming jump shooters.
Back to the radio:
It was time to call in. I had heard enough of other fans.
People were trashing O’Neal for a business decision that was smart on his part. He now has a PhD and is smarter with his investments (likely due to advisers, but still) than just about every player that plays in the Association.
But fans did not like that. They did not get it.
Shaq was just a tool for them to enjoy winning a title, and he knew that. Players do not always pay attention to what columnists say, but they most certainly become aware of fan’s sentiments. Joe Johnson threw Atlanta Hawks fans under the bus, and due to attendance throughout the last two decades, it was warranted.
O’Neal did not do that. He just bolted, leaving a “small pond” comment in his wake to denigrate the growing Central Florida metropolis. It was surprising, but as it goes “I ain’t mad at cha.”
On to my phone call: I said that it was a business decision and we should not criticize a player for choosing a new place of employment. Basketball is a business first and foremost, and a lot of fans resent that. But it does not make sense.
What did, however, was thinking about where the Magic could go next to remain a highly competitive and good team, just missing its franchise-changing center but still featuring four of the five starters from the Finals appearance, including the legendary Anfernee Hardaway.
What was my solution? Felton Spencer.
Try not to laugh. Let’s head back to the summer of 1996.
He was a big body, above average defender, and could fill the paint. He was a broke man’s Shaq basically, which is what teams do when they go broke — fill spots with the best available talent to keep team chemistry intact.
Guess what? Spencer was acquired within a week, but was later cut from the team due to Rony Seikaly migrating north from the Miami Heat to play for Orlando.
It worked. The Magic were still a playoff team and still a dangerous squad capable of making a run at it, eventually forcing the second-seeded Heat to five games.
Although the team remained very good, it was just not great anymore.
Is that enough for the Magic fans that helped drive O’Neal out of town? It seems it is just not the case. If a team is not contending for rings, fans feel as though they are being cheated out of watching great basketball. And that just is not true.
Shaq and Kobe at one point were 1A and 1B in the league.
Shaq was finally in Hollywood, as he had hoped he would be from the day he was drafted, notwithstanding he seldom even hinted at it. So, that led to the shock and outrage when he left.
When Dwight Howard left, it was more of a “good riddance” type of feeling and, truthfully, I got sick of writing about him, but it was always something that people needed to tune into, and much of what anyone wrote on the topic had a near viral nature on the internet.
The world with the Magic in the mid-90s revolved around Shaq. Even when O’Neal was not in Orlando, gravity dictated that he still mattered.
Shaquille left before the internet was popular. We were calling through telephone connections and desperately hoping we could beat the rush for AOL to get into the system and browse the web on Internet explorer. Far less people had internet access in 1996, so the element of a huge movement to trash O’Neal was not yet there.
But now it is, and Magic fans are hanging onto a grudge that is now an event that occurred 19 years ago.
As for my 15 year old self, I got it. I still do. There is no doubt in my mind that if I were in O’Neal’s shoes and had the following, charisma and championship ambition of him, that I would not do the same exact thing.
As fans, we sometimes hate the business aspect, the fact big players play in big markets, the fact Orlando is not one. But the Magic landed Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill in free agency. That is inspiring because between now and the 2016 offseason a lot could happen and a superstar could become discontent and flee to the Sunshine State due to the absence of state taxes or a number of other reasons.
But Shaq did not need a tax break, because his business went beyond basketball into acting and rapping. He was bigger than basketball.
Tickets are being sold for Friday’s game at $20 a pop, and for those who understand his decision, it will be worth it. For those that are acting like they were spurned by a lover, stay home.
Essentially, Shaq is the Elvis of basketball. And Elvis would not be eating his peanut butter and banana sandwiches inside the Amway Center if it were the only place he could play. When you are big enough, sometimes the only thing to do is fully exploit it for financial reasons and for personal ego and gain.
Everyone that reads this does the exact same thing on a smaller scale, yet considers athletes guys who have to stay with an organization just because they were drafted by it.
Let it go. If a 15-year-old avid fan can understand it, surely a full grown adult can and should.
It just shows sometimes maturity does not accompany age.