Lakers Hall of Famer Reveals He Tried To Join West Rival 'Many Times'

The legendary Laker reveals how he tried to play alongside his former Western Conference rival.

June 12, 2002; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; NBA commissioner David Stern hands Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson (left), Shaquille O'Neal (center) and Kobe Bryant (right) their championship trophy at the end of Game 4 of the NBA Finals at The Meadowlands. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images / Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY via Ima

The National Basketball Association has a number of "what if" stories surrounding a star player who almost landed on the same team with a player of the same caliber. Transactions and trades in professional sports can be tricky. Usually a number of factors play into why a player may or may not end up on a certain team. An example of this when the Los Angeles Lakers attempted to acquire point guard Chris Paul to pair alongside Kobe Bryant, however, the trade was vetoed by then-NBA commissioner David Stern.

Hall of Fame big man Shaquille O'Neal has also experienced not being traded to a destination he had desired to go to, dating back to his time as a member of the Lakers. The four-time NBA champion curates a podcast with Adam Lefkoe called "The Big Podcast." In an episode back in June, O'Neal hosted Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki as a guest and the two frontcourt sensations talked for 40 minutes about a slew of topics.

During their conversation Nowitzki was asked about which players he would have loved to play with during his career. The listed consisted of O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan who would seem like suitable fits alongside the stretch-four. Viewers were then treated to the story about how O'Neal was desperately trying to land in Dallas prior to his Departure in Los Angeles.

"I tried to get to Dallas many times, me and Mark [Cuban] was working behind the scenes... That would've been nice."

Shaq reveals the time him and Dirk Nowitzki almost teamed up 👀

(via @bigpodwithshaq)pic.twitter.com/ok5NgDh0nj

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 27, 2024

"Trust me, I tried to get to Dallas many times," O'Neal started. "Me and Mark [Cuban] was working behind the scenes, like right after I [wanted to leave] L.A., Mark was the first person I called, but [former Lakers General Manager] Mitch Kupchak didn't want to trade me to Mark so they ended up [sending] me to Miami."

Interestingly enough Nowitzki was aware of O'Neal's intentions to come Dallas before things ultimately fell short.

"I remember there were a few rumblings at the time," Nowitzki responded, "and then you obviously went to Miami and you guys beat us in '06."

"I called Mark," O'Neal continued, "and I said 'Mark, whatever you got to do to get me there' and he's like 'The Lakers won't do it!' and I was like 'Make 'em do it, Mark.' They wouldn't do it, but that would've been nice. Because I love Dallas, as you know, I have two houses here."

The Lakers' front-office not wanting to send their All-NBA center to Dallas does make sense as this was a team that Los Angeles had been knocking out of the postseason for years. O'Neal and Nowitzki sharing the court together would easily have made them potentially the greatest front-court in NBA history.

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