Shaquille O’Neal tried forcing his way to the Dallas Mavericks when he was leaving the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004, as revealed by the big man himself on ‘The Big Podcast.’ Shaq told Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki that he called Mark Cuban and tried to get the former majority owner to acquire him as he was leaving the Lakers.
Shaquille O’Neal: “I tried to get to Dallas many times. Me and Mark Cuban were working behind the scenes. I thought Mark was the first person I called.”
Dirk Nowitzki: “It never worked. I remember there were rumblings at the time, and then you obviously went to Miami and then beat us in ’06.”
Shaquille O’Neal: “I called Mark, ‘Whatever you have to do to get me there.’ He’s like, ‘The Lakers won’t do it, man!’ I was like, ‘Make them do it, Mark!’ But they didn’t do it. That would have been nice.”
“I tried to get to Dallas many times. Me and Mark Cuban were working behind the scenes.”
– Shaq on trying to get traded to the Mavs 😳
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— The Big Podcast (@bigpodwithshaq) June 5, 2024
The Lakers were right to stop Shaq from joining another team in the Western Conference, especially a fringe contender like the Mavericks at the time. While the Mavs finished the 2003-04 season with 52 wins and a first-round exit, they would go to the Finals two seasons later and face the Miami Heat, where Shaq was Dwyane Wade’s co-star.
Cuban decided not to make the deal because the Lakers were insistent they would only trade Shaq if Dirk became a Laker, given Kobe Bryant had also been interested in teaming up with the German big man.
The Mavericks would lose that series as O’Neal won his fourth ring. Shaq’s physical prime waned quickly after that, but even two to three seasons of Shaq at the latter half of his prime and Nowitzki right before hitting his MVP peak together would have been incredible to watch. Maybe the city of Dallas wouldn’t have had to wait until 2011 to become champions!
Shaq Doesn’t Believe Luka Doncic Is Better Than Dirk Nowitzki Yet
Shaq has a lot of respect for the big German who made Dallas a relevant NBA city. As a result, O’Neal has been one of the biggest non-believers in current Mavericks’ star Luka Doncic being greater than Nowitzki ever was. The four-time champion made it clear that it is far too early to say Doncic is better than Dirk.
“Great player but the key is consistency. I seen a lot of guys that play great their first four years and you don’t hear from them. He’s in a different era… So, I don’t think you can start putting him in that category yet. Great player, but better than Dirk? A little too early.”
Doncic has averaged 28.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists through the first six seasons of his career. He’s currently in his first NBA Finals and could equal Nowitzki’s championship count at 25 years old. The claim has been made by both Mark Cuban and Jason Kidd, with even Dirk mentioning the same in the past.
It’s clear that the Mavs rate Luka highly, and they’d be right to do so. In just six seasons, he’s a former Rookie of the Year, five-time All-NBA First Team selection (more than Nowitzki), five-time All-Star selection, and recently secured his first Western Conference Finals MVP trophy.
Luka is yet to win league MVP, a trophy Dirk hoisted in 2007 before winning the title in 2011. But if the Slovenian guard can lead the Mavericks to an upset win in the Finals, the argument of him being a better Maverick than Nowitzki will only become louder.
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