Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most outstanding Lakers in the franchise’s history, which is saying something considering how much success they have enjoyed. O’Neal three-peated as a champion and Finals MVP during his prime with the Lakers, but his relationships within the franchise didn’t entirely stay the way they might have for any other star.
Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant formed an elite one-two punch for the Lakers, Shaq himself has called them the greatest duo of all time. But as every NBA fan knows, their relationship had soured towards the end of their time together. Shaquille O’Neal was traded by the Lakers after the team lost the 2003-04 NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons, but the seeds of his departure were seemingly sown long before the deal went through.
Brian Shaw Revealed The Exact Moment Shaquille O’Neal Sealed His Fate To Be Traded By The Lakers
The main man for the Lakers since the 1980s had been their owner, Dr. Jerry Buss. His vision helped the Lakers build multiple dynasties, and he is remembered as one of the best team owners in the league’s history. Dr. Buss loved the stars that brought so much success to his team, but if Brian Shaw is to be believed, Shaquille O’Neal making him angry is why the franchises ended up trading the Big Diesel. He recalled the story on an episode of the Icons Club Podcast on The Ringer.
“We played the Warriors two games in Hawaii because we are training camp in Hawaii that year, and within the first few plays of the game, Shaq dunks on Eric Dan Pierre, who was a center for Warriors at that time.
“And Dr. Buss is sitting courtside as Shaq kind of struts along the sideline and looks directly at Dr. Buss and says, ‘You better pay me.’ And Dr. Buss really really took that personally. I don’t think that, at the time, Shaq knew how Dr. Buss felt, you know, like that he was showing them up.”
A lot more thought surely went into the decision to trade Shaquille O’Neal, he was an MVP frontrunner in 2004-05 as well, but this seemingly played a part. Dr. Jerry Buss choosing to keep Kobe Bryant over Shaquille O’Neal mathematically proved to be a sound decision as well, the aging Shaq won another championship, but Bryant won 2 later during his career.
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