How NBA Legend and Hall of Famer Jerry West Signed Shaq Away from Magic

Jerry West, one of the greatest players and executives in basketball history, died Wednesday. He was 86. Along with his iconic career as an All-Star guard, West built eight championship teams. One of his biggest moves was luring Shaquille O'Neal away from the Orlando Magic.

Nathaniel Marrero | Jun 12, 2024

Mar 24, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Jerry West (left) shakes hands with Los Angeles Lakers former center Shaquille O'Neal during a ceremony to unveil a statue of O'Neal at Staples Center. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

ORLANDO — Jerry West, one of professional basketball's greatest players and championship team builders, died Wednesday. He was 86.

West was a Hall of Famer, an All-Star all 14 years of his Los Angeles Lakers career, an All-NBA team honoree 12 times, and a member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team. He is the Logo, the silhouette that became the league's visual brand in 1969 when West was still an active player.

He won a single NBA championship as a player in 1972. He lost eight times in the Finals but is the only player from a losing side to be named the most outstanding player in a championship series.

West was much more successful as a general manger, and one of his biggest moves came at the Orlando Magic's expense. He recruited Shaquille O'Neal, the Magic's young All-Star center, to sign with the Lakers in 1996.

Orlando had one of the league's most promising duos with Shaq and Penny Hardaway. They had reached the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history in 1995 and made the Eastern Conference Finals after winning a franchise-record 60 games in 1996. In their next 11 seasons, the Magic would make the playoffs six times but never got past the first round.

"Jerry [West] was the reason why I got to the Lakers," Shaq said on his podcast. "So '96, I don't know if you know the story, during the Olympics, I was negotiating with Orlando. I was at Magic City and my agent called me and said 'Hey man, you gotta come meet Jerry' cause I never met him. I knew who he was, so we get up to his suite [and] he was smooth and he said 'Shaq, I got some good news and I got some bad news.' I said 'What's the bad news, sir?' He said 'I can't get you that $150 [million] you want, but I can get you this.' He gave me that contract [and] I ain't seen so many zeros in my life. But he was like 'You gotta sign now.' I didn't have time to call nobody."

Shaq added: "Right when I was signing, he said, 'I'm about to get this young kid from high school. We did a deal with Charlotte. We're going to move Vlade [for] a kid named Kobe Bryant and y'all are going to win championships.'"

A week prior to signing Shaq, West had acquired high school star Bryant in a draft-day trade with the Charlotte Hornets. Shaq and Kobe went on to win three consecutive NBA titles with the Lakers from 1999-2000 to 2001-02.

West won eight titles in all as the Lakers' general manager — from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson to Shaq and Kobe.

"Jerry West was a basketball genius and a defining figure in our league for more than 60 years," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said via press release. "He distinguished himself not only as an NBA champion and an All-Star in all 14 of his playing seasons, but also as a consummate competitor who embraced the biggest moments. He was the league's first Finals MVP and made rising to the occasion his signature quality, earning him the nickname Mr. Clutch."

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