Preface
As the saying goes, there is Joe to choose Joe, no Joe to choose the shark, here Joe refers to the "basketball god" Jordan, and the shark is the big shark O'Neal, O'Neal as the most dominant center in NBA history, led the Lakers to achieve three consecutive championships during the Lakers period, but the big shark O'Neal career did not spend in the Lakers at the beginning, but in the Magic, so why did the Magic give up the peak O'Neal in that era of great emphasis on the center, and would rather he be left to others? Let's take a look at what happened.
In 1992, the Magic team selected the big man O'Neal with the top pick, and O'Neal played very well in his rookie season, averaging 23.4 points and 13.9 rebounds per game. In the second year of his career, O'Neal's superstars couldn't hide each other, and his average points per game came directly to 29.3 points, which was a leap forward, and O'Neal also became one of the All-Star centers.
Finally in 1995, the Magic's playoff results had a breakthrough, under the leadership of O'Neal and Hardaway, they defeated the Bulls led by Jordan in the second round of the playoffs, and successfully defeated the Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals, advancing to the Finals, but they faced the opponent of the defending champion Rockets led by Olajuwon, in the Finals, the Magic suffered a young loss, the Rockets were obviously experienced, and finally the Magic was swept by the Rockets and missed the championship.
After the Finals, a tricky problem arose, O'Neal was facing a contract extension, in fact, he wanted to stay with the Magic team to shine, but the team's approach was really inauthentic, and he gradually changed his mind.
Renewing the contract is too cheap
As we all know, the NBA is a business league, there is no eternal friendship, only eternal interests, they all have to eat, not to mention O'Neal's top center, he deserves a big contract, O'Neal's offer to the team at that time was 7 years and 110 million, but the Magic's commotion directly made O'Neal angry, they just wanted to give a 4-year 54 million contract, O'Neal felt that he was being played, you must know that even Zhu Wan · A center like Howard can get a 7-year contract of 100 million, not to mention O'Neal, O'Neal is only 23 years old, and the dominance he showed in the game is not available to all centers in the league.
It is worth mentioning that Orlando also did something that made O'Neill even angrier, and they published a survey in the newspaper: Do you think O'Neill is worth 110 million in 7 years? No matter what the voting result is, it is extremely uncomfortable to be able to do this, not to mention that O'Neal, who was only 23 years old at the time, is a child's personality, without O'Neal's internal control, the Magic can reach the finals?
Ignored by magic
O'Neill was only 23 years old in 95, a very young man, and his personality can almost be said to have not grown up, and his childish temper makes him need attention from the outside world and need to be the protagonist.
In 1995, a year and a half had passed since Jordan's first retirement, and the league urgently needed to find the next Jordan to decorate the NBA's façade, because the NBA's star-making program tasted the sweetness, so they were keen to find superstars to support, and Hardaway of the Magic team was the most favored at that time, because of his elegant style of play and smart movements, people saw Jordan's shadow in him.
And the Magic team was also fascinated by the praise of the outside world, and they seemed to think that Hardaway was the next real man, so they spent more attention and mind on Hardaway, at this time O'Neal felt that he was ignored by the team, because O'Neal felt that he was the core of the team, after all, without him on the inside to attract defense, Hardaway could not play so comfortably. But the Magic management can't see this, and still blindly praises Hardaway, and these behaviors of the Magic team planted the seeds of leaving in O'Neal's heart.
Maxima still needs Bole's attention
A 23-year-old big center with infinite possibilities in the future, as soon as the news of O'Neal's desire to leave the team came out, it aroused the interest of many teams, among which the Lakers' offer made O'Neal the most excited, and finally O'Neal joined the Lakers with a 7-year 120 million contract. In the following time, O'Neal led the Lakers to complete three consecutive championships in 2000-2002, creating a Lakers dynasty, the story of O'Neal and the Lakers is like Maxima meeting Bole and finally showing his talent. Hardaway, who is regarded as Jordan's successor, quickly faded out of the NBA after experiencing injuries, and the Magic have not won a championship to this day.
The story of the Magic and O'Neal tells us that when it comes to superstars, you have to treat them with respect, or other teams will be waiting for them. In fact, there is no shortage of stars in the history of the Magic team, supergiants like O'Neal, Maddy, and Howard, they failed to stay in the end, which shows that the team management has too shallow vision.