Everyone in the basketball world is familiar with Shaquille O’Neal’s incredible career in the NBA. Throughout his career, the New Jersey born, played for six different teams in the best basketball league. After his standout stint with the LA Lakers, where he won three NBA titles, O’Neal went coast to coast to sign with the Miami Heat, in a trade that also involved Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant.
A transfer to achieve glory
At that time, the Miami Heat was a franchise that had not yet won any titles, so its president, Pat Riley, wanted to be sure about the young Shaq’s priorities in the Sunshine State. Concerned about the situation, he was direct with Shaq and asked him if he would be willing to take a pay cut to help build a competitive team.
This is how he stated it on OGs Podcast: “Pat came to me and said, ‘I can give you the whole $120 million, and we can have nobody. Or I can give you $100 million, get UD [Haslem] some more money, and bring in Posey, GP [Gary Payton], and the other guys. I was like, ‘I need to win. You know what I’m hearing. I gotta win one before old boy [Kobe Bryant] gets one. I got enough money; I got the biggest house. I’ll do it” Shaq stated.
I need to win. You know what I’m hearing. I gotta win one before old boy [Kobe Bryant] gets one. I got enough money; I got the biggest house. I’ll do it
Shaq signed with the Heat for a $101 million contract, and just one year later, he secured the franchise’s first titleby defeating the Dallas Mavericks 95-92 on June 20th, 2006.
