Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal.
Credits: USA Today Sports

In 1996, Shaquille O’Neal was at a juncture in his career that would eventually define his entire legacy. An Orlando Magic star until then, Diesel had been a part of the organization from the second he stepped into the league.

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It was hard to imagine O’Neal and Orlando as two different entities. He was drafted by them and had found immense success with them. For a star of his potential, however, the Orlando Magic weren’t ready to pay him the amount he believed he deserved.

O’Neal believed he deserved over $100 million but the Magic believed otherwise. Their best offer to them before the Lakers came into play was $80 million over 4 years. Years later, his tussle with Orlando Magic would lead O’Neal to surmise that, like in Michael Jordan’s case, teams rarely remained loyal to stars who made them.

Shaquille O’Neal questioned NBA teams’ loyalty in his book

In his book Shaq Uncut, Shaquille O’Neal wrote of his career and all the transactions involved in detail. One instance that perhaps hurt him almost as much as the Lakers trading him off was his exit from Orlando.

In his book, Shaq compared what Orlando did by choosing to not pay him to a lack of loyalty displayed by the team. He mentioned the likes of Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins to strengthen his argument.

According to Diesel, teams weren’t loyal to even the players who made them. He claimed how Michael Jordan built the Chicago Bulls but had to leave them at the end of his career and head to Washington.

Shaq: “Now my contract is up, and that’s when I learn there is no loyalty in this game. None whatsoever. Zero. You just have to develop a thick skin and accept it. I knew there was no loyalty when I watched Patrick Ewing get traded, and Dominique Wilkins, too. Even Michael Jordan switched teams. Ewing made the Knicks. ’Nique made the Hawks. (Michael) Jordan made the Bulls. I know they were at the end of their careers and they thought it would be best for them to go somewhere else, but it should never come to that.”

The Lakers offered Shaq a better deal than Orlando

Right when O’Neal was struggling to get a preferable deal from Orlando, Jerry West came as a savior. Magic had made it clear that they wouldn’t offer O’Neal more than $80 million for the fear of pissing off Penny Hardaway. But Shaq had wanted more than $100 million.

That is when Jerry West stepped in and offered Shaquille O’Neal $98 million. After facing rejection in Orlando, he was ready to move to LA for West’s initial offer. However, Jerry improved on it and instead offered Diesel $121 million. Rest is history.