The Magic Insider

LISTEN: Why Did Shaq Leave The Magic and Join Lakers?

It's been 26 years since O'Neal left the Magic.

Jeremy Brener

LISTEN: Why Did Shaq Leave The Magic and Join Lakers?
LISTEN: Why Did Shaq Leave The Magic and Join Lakers? /

ORLANDO - It's been over 25 years since Shaquille O'Neal left the Orlando Magic in free agency and traded Disney World for Disneyland out in California with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Stories from the past have a tendency to return to the surface, and every time the story is retold, there are details that pop up that may not have been discovered before.

On a recent episode of the Icons Club podcast, longtime NBA insider Jackie MacMullan shares a reason why O'Neal left the Magic to join the Lakers.

The Orlando Sentinel newspaper set up a poll in which callers weighed in on a single question. Is Shaquille O’Neal worth $150 million? More than 5,000 people called in, and over 91% said no. Shaq, who was training with Team USA at the time, was mercilessly teased by his teammates over the results. Back in Orlando, his mother, Lucille, was subjected to a bird’s-eye view of the results plastered on a billboard, which she could see from her office.

After just four seasons in Orlando, O'Neal averaged 27.2 points per game to go with 12.5 rebounds.

O'Neal's dominance, which began in Orlando, helped land him at No. 9 on Nick Wright's Top 50 NBA Players list of the last 50 seasons.

O'Neal sits behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird and Hakeem Olajuwon on the list.

By 1995, O'Neal's third season in the league, the Magic advanced all the way to the NBA Finals, where it lost to the Houston Rockets in four games.

The next season, O'Neal and the Magic returned to the Eastern Conference Finals, but were swept by the 72-10 Chicago Bulls, who went on to win the championship that year.

Game 4 of that Conference Finals was O'Neal's last in a Magic uniform as he signed a record-breaking contract with the Los Angeles Lakers that summer ...  possibly as a result of that billboard.

He went on to win three championships with the Lakers from 2000-02 and another ring with the Miami Heat in 2006.

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Jeremy Brener
JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.

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