“The police was waiting for me, they’re like ‘Shaq we can’t let you in’… I was going to there to put my hands on Mitch Kupchak” - Shaquille O'Neal on the LA Lakers making him available for a trade
Speaking on The Big Podcast, former Los Angeles Lakers superstar Shaquille O'Neal divulged information about his trade from the Lakers. O'Neal was infuriated by the way it was made known to him by the Lakers front office. Shaq said:
"He (Vogel) was done dirty because that's how I heard I was getting traded. I'm eating cereal with Shareef, planning our vacation and, oh, Lakers will be taking trades for Shaquille O'Neal. I'm like, damn, I can't even get a call. After all I did, 3 and 0, y'all can't call me and tell me?"
O'Neal continued, talking about how he was nearly involved in a heated conversation with Mitch Kupchak, the general manager of the Lakers at the time. O'Neal said:
"So what I did was I got in my car and went to the office. They knew I was coming, the police was waiting for me. They're like - Shaq, we can't let you in, I was like, Nah they just talking about trading me, I'm just going to go get my shit. I was going in there to put my hands on Mitch Kupchak. I understand the business but let's talk business - Hey Shaq it ain't working. We want to do different things, we thinking about trading you - Cool. This is where I wanna go, I wanna go to Miami. After all I did, then you know had to hear it from the media."
Shaquille O'Neal’s stats during the Lakers three-peat, 2000-2002
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35.8 PPG
15.2 RPG
3.5 APG
2.9 BPG
59 FG%
Pure dominance🔥 https://t.co/6E9O6P57Pq
Shaquille O'Neal's tenure with the Miami Heat
After his unceremonious departure from the Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal was a man on a mission. He was determined to prove that he was not past his prime and was still capable of playing a huge role on a championship caliber team.
At age 33, Shaq realized that he was not the dominant force he once was and had to defer to another player - Dwyane Wade in this instance. However, he could still turn back the clock on certain occasions with some dominant performances.
Heat will retire @SHAQ's No. 32 jersey at halftime tonight. O’Neal: 1st all-time in field goal pct with @MiamiHeat (59.6), 3rd in PPG (19.6) https://t.co/vTx9BBSTk4
In his second season with the Heat, Shaquille O'Neal averaged 20 points per game and 9.2 rebounds while shooting the ball at a rate of 60% from the field. He also averaged 1.8 blocks per game as well.
Shaq, alongside the likes of Wade and Alonzo Mourning, led the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals. O'Neal used his experience to play the role of second fiddle as Wade produced arguably the greatest Finals series performance since the days of Michael Jordan.