"No gray area or lies": Magic Hall of Famer Dennis Scott hammers franchise for letting Shaquille O'Neal walk in free agency
After spending the first four years of his career with the Orlando Magic, Shaquille O'Neal departed for the LA Lakers. During a recent interview, a former teammate of his blasted the franchise for letting the future Hall of Famer go.
In the early days of the franchise, the Orlando Magic hit the jackpot by getting Shaquille O'Neal with the first pick in the 1992 draft. Despite great success in their time together, the relationship was short lived.
While sitting down with Sportskeeda's Mark Medina, former Magic guard Dennis Scott opened up on Shaq's departure. He feels the franchise's actions regarding his free agency completely changed history.
"If I’m being honest and transparent, we all have seen in sports and business. A business transaction was handled poorly when it came to Shaq. That changed history. It’s that simple. There is no gray area or lies being told. That’s the honest truth. How Shaq was handled [with his free agency]went poorly. It didn’t go well, and it changed history on how that first team was put together."
Scott spent seven of his nine years in the NBA with the Magic, where he was a reliable sharpshooting guard. As for Shaq, he departed for LA where he went on to win three championships playing alongside Kobe Bryant.
Why did Shaquille O'Neal leave the Orlando Magic?
There are many things that could be attributed to Shaquille O'Neal's departure from the Orlando Magic. Some might think he had to do with him butting heads with co-star Penny Hardaway, but that wasn't it. Instead, it was because the franchise wasn't willing to pay the star center what he felt he was worth.
During the summer of 1996, Shaq hit free agency. The Magic could have offered him more money than any other team because they had his Bird Rights. Instead, they decided to give their star big man a low ball offer. Shaq did not like this, which led to him testing the open market. In the end, he signed a seven-year deal with the LA Lakers worth $120 million.
From the moment he stepped on an NBA court, Shaq proved he was a superstar-level talent. He was an All-Star in all of his four years with the Magic, and led the league in scoring in just his third season.
Despite seeing this dominant talent up close, Orlando did not want to offer Shaq a big contract. This led to him leaving and the trajectory of the franchise changing forever.