“I didn’t leave, I was traded,” Shaquille O’Neal reveals truth about his conflicted relationship with the Los Angeles Lakers
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When it comes to Shaquille O’Neal, everybody gets remained of a large man with a powerful body and quickness that was almost un-proportionate to his size. The NBA Hall of Famer was a rare sight to find, he was one of the last of what people call a “traditional center” before the era of position-less basketball hit the spotlight.
Back then, the Los Angeles Lakers were a massive deal. Even today, they are still very relevant and a big market team. Obviously, Shaquille O’Neal had to have been brought in to represent the purple and gold at least once in his career. The Lakers hosted NBA greats since the beginning of the league. What Shaq did with them was no less than legendary.
He battled alongside Kobe Bryant and won three titles back-to-back. It is considered to be one of, or the greatest era of Lakers basketball. But with everything good that came from the duo followed bad rumors. These rumors involved Shaq and Kobe’s relationship being uneven. Eventually he was traded off from the Lakers.
On Cosmote TV’s Pick ‘n’ Roll show, Shaquille O’Neal was asked if he regretted anything after leaving the Lakers. He said, “I didn’t leave, I was traded, so I don’t regret anything, it’s business. They owed me money that they didn’t want to give me, so they traded me. It’s all about business.” This was a very classy answer considering all the rumors that flew around back then about him feuding with Kobe.
Shaquille O’Neal’s career post Los Angeles Lakers
Shaquille O’Neal was traded off to the Miami Heat where he joined forces with an upcoming superstar Dwyane Wade. There is won his fourth title in 2006. Unfortunately for Shaq, that was the last of his dominance. During the early days, the Big Diesel would average nearly 30 points per game. He won three titles, an MVP, All-Star Game MVP and the Finals MVP with the Lakers.
The athlete turned analyst’s body started giving into his unhealthy lifestyle. NBA athletes are extremely particular about their body. For Shaq, it was a struggle trying to keep up to fitness. He finished off his career with the Boston Cetlics averaging 9.2 points and 4.8 assists per game. Despite his inability to play, the Cetlics knew his worth as a mentor and for Shaq, it meant big money.
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Rakibul John Rodgers
(1258 Articles Published)