Shaquille O’Neal spoke on the OGs podcast about taking a pay cut with the Miami Heat. He noted that Pat Riley asked him whether he wanted the max or if he would be willing to take a lower cut so that he could recruit other players. Shaq responded that he didn’t need the money, he just wanted to win a championship, so he agreed to it.
“Pat came in and said ‘Shaq, I love you. I can give you the whole $120 (million) and we can have nobody. Or I can give you $100 (million), get UD [Haslem] some more money, I can bring in Posey, I can bring in GP [Gary Payton], and I can bring in all them guys’.”
“And I was like ‘I need to win. You know what I’m hearing. I gotta win one before old boy [Kobe Bryant] get one. I got enough money, I got the biggest house. I’ll do it’. And that’s what I did. For me, it’s not about money, it’s about maximizing your potential. If you got.” the ability to do more, I’m always trying to do more.
Pat Riley made a smart call by talking to Shaquille O’Neal about a pay cut, as it allowed the franchise to be competitive in the Eastern Conference. He signed a five-year, $101 million contract with the Heat in 2005. The deal would give the Heat the flexibility to expand their roster and win the NBA championship that season.
However, Shaq wouldn’t be around with the Miami Heat for very long after winning the NBA championship. He would be traded to the Phoenix Suns just two seasons later, which was very much the beginning of O’Neal’s decline as a player, and he would end up retiring from the NBA about three years after the trade to the Suns.
Shaq Showed His Winning Mentality With The Pay Cut
Shaquille O’Neal taking a pay cut is something we rarely see in the NBA these days. Most superstars in the NBA are more concerned with making sure that their financial future is secure, rather than sacrificing for the team. That isn’t a criticism, but more of an observation of the current state of the NBA.
Of course, there are exceptions to this. Recently, Jalen Brunson took a massive pay cut for the New York Knicks, allowing them to extend OG Anunoby, and allow them to acquire Mikal Bridges to elevate their roster to a championship contender. But even then, Brunson probably took the cut with some guarantees about his future contract.
LeBron James also offered to take a pay cut from the Los Angeles Lakers during the offseason, on the condition that they acquire a third All-Star caliber player. Since the Lakers failed to acquire said player, James took the max contract, with a marginal cut to help them avoid the second apron in the salary cap.
Perhaps when players in the NBA are put in a position to choose between a championship and a max contract, they will take a cut to build a contender, but as things stand, that is no longer common practice in the league.
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