Shaquille O’Neal is a Boston Celtic. Yes, you read that correctly. The three-time Finals MVP for three separate Lakers championship teams is now a member of their most hated rival.
It’s been a little more than six years since Mitch Kupchak, on orders from Lakers’ owner Jerry Buss, traded Shaq to the Miami Heat. Since then, Shaq has been traded twice more. That would make the Celtics the fourth team that Shaq has played for in the last four years and the sixth of his career.
There are a lot of Lakers fans who still feel burnt by Shaq’s departure in 2004—me being one of them. My biggest issue with Shaq’s departure was in how he crafted his exit and allowed Kobe and Dr. Buss to take all the blame for it. At the same time, I don’t think that Phil Jackson would have rejoined the organization in 2005 if he didn’t feel bad about how much of the blame was directed at Kobe.
But I digress. Back to why I despise Shaq.
For starters, it’s amazing how the majority of basketball fans still believe that Kobe had Shaq run out of town even though Shaq requested a trade shortly after the 2004 Finals. There was one reason why Shaq wanted off the Lakers and it had nothing to do with Kobe. It was all about money. If Dr. Buss wasn’t going to give Shaq the maximum allowed then Shaq wanted to be traded to a team that could.
Keep in mind that in 2004 Shaq was 32. From everything I’ve read, Dr. Buss was willing to extend Shaq’s contract but not nearly by as many years or dollars as Shaq was hoping for. Had Dr. Buss allowed Shaq’s contract to expire the following season then Shaq would have been a free agent and received nowhere near the money that Buss was offering—mainly because there were no teams anywhere close to the $28 million in cap space it would have required to match what he was scheduled to make the following season.
In other words, Shaq wanted his Bird Rights traded to a team that would sign him to another nine-digit contract.
Fair enough.
Shaq made a business decision by requesting a trade. It wasn’t about basketball. It wasn’t about Kobe. It was strictly about dollars and cents.
But then Shaq also felt he could dictate which teams he could be traded to. He wanted to go to a warm weather team. So a trade to the Indiana Pacers which had been rumored was quickly shot down—even if it would have brought back the best package in return. Shaq had already burnt his bridge with Orlando and they had already traded Tracy McGrady to the Rockets.
So eventually he was traded to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant.
But rather than be grateful to Dr. Buss for adhering to his demands he instead chose to rip his former boss:
"“I needed a real owner like Micky Arison, not a guy that parties with girls three times [younger than him] — when you’re 60, hang out with 60-year-olds, not 20-year-olds. You can quote me on that. I’ve got nothing else to say about Jerry Buss.”"
It’s funny that Shaq has always liked to fancy himself a businessman but he reacted so sensitively when Buss explained that he traded Shaq for business reasons.
Shaq has done nothing to help his relationship with the Lakers or their fans since leaving Los Angeles but that probably won’t change the Lakers plans for retiring his number 34 when he finally decides to walk away from the game.
The conversation about Shaq’s jersey retirement has been a hot topic amongst Lakers fans that seems to go in and out of storage like a high school yearbook. Just when you thought the conversation was dead, Shaq wins a championship with the Heat. Then it’s dead again until Shaq raps about how Kobe can’t win a championship without him.
Now Shaq is a Celtic so the conversation is back on again. As if Shaq’s number one choice this summer was to join the Celtics. At this point in his career he didn’t have a lot of options. His number one priority was joining a contender. Don’t think he didn’t hear Kobe’s response when KCBS-TV’s Jim Hill asked him what title number five meant to him.
The problem was that Shaq had already burnt bridges with three contenders—the Lakers, Heat, and Orlando Magic.
Number two on his list was money. After LeBron was signed and traded, Shaq’s Bird Rights were no longer owned by a contending team. So Shaq was hoping that the Cavs would accommodate him the same way they hooked up LeBron—by signing and trading him to a team that might be interested in signing him to an eight-figure salary, like the Atlanta Hawks.
Number three on Shaq’s list of priorities was playing time and what role he would have on his new team. On a team like the Hawks he might actually have been a starter—allowing Al Horford to move back to his more natural power forward position.
It looks as if Shaq got one of his three wishes—albeit the most important one. He’s going to a contender but he’s doing it for the veteran’s minimum and he signed with the understanding that he’d be coming off the bench.
So are Lakers fans really going to be anymore against Shaq’s jersey being retired today than they were yesterday? The guy signed with the Celtics because nobody else wanted to sign him. Instead of hating him more today they should be feeling more sorry for him today. He made $20 million last season and he’ll be playing for $1.4 million this upcoming season.
As for my thoughts on whether or not I think Shaq should have his jersey retired, I’m willing to concede my position to Dr. Buss. Why? Because he’s the Godfather as far as I’m concerned. Who am I to question anything that Dr. Buss decides to do?
There are some things that a lot of people don’t know regarding Shaq, the Lakers, and their policies regarding the retiring of jerseys.
First, the Lakers only retire the jerseys of Hall of Famers. So please stop calling local sports shows and asking why Michael Cooper’s jersey isn’t retired. I loved Coop. But I understand why his jersey isn’t up there. It’s because he isn’t in Springfield. If you want to see Coop’s 21 up in the Staples Center rafters then start working the phones to get him into Springfield.
It’s the same reason why Derek Fisher’s No. 2 or Robert Horry’s No. 5 won’t be retired. It’s also the same reason why Gail Goodrich’s No. 25 wasn’t retired until 1996 despite the fact that he played his last game as a Laker in 1976. Goodrich didn’t get elected into the Hall of Fame until 1996.
Second, there’s a story involving Lamar Odom and Brian Cook that took place after Odom was traded to the Lakers. Odom wore No. 7 for both the Clippers and Heat and wanted to continue wearing No. 7 with the Lakers. At the time Cook was the owner of the No. 7 jersey. But Cook, who had worn the No. 34 jersey while at University of Illinois, was more than willing to give up the No. 7 in exchange for the No. 34 that Shaq had vacated when he was traded.
So Cook had requested the No. 34 jersey but was swiftly denied. The explanation he was given at the time was that no Lakers player would ever wear the No. 34 jersey again.
So Cook opted for No. 43 instead.
I doubt that the Buss family’s opinion has changed any since then. Nor will it change now that Shaq is a member of the Boston Celtics.
Because the jerseys that hang in the Staples Centers rafters are those of Hall of Famers only, they mean just as much to Dr. Buss and the organization as they do to the players whose names adorn them:
- Elgin Baylor (22)
- Wilt Chamberlain (13)
- Jerry West (44)
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (33)
- Magic Johnson (32)
- James Worthy (42)
- Gail Goodrich (25)
(There are also banners commemorating members of the Minneapolis Lakers as well as the legendary Chick Hearn)
If Dr. Buss left that decision up to me I wouldn’t do it. I probably would have let Cook have the jersey and retired it with Cook’s name on it. But that would have been because of O’Neal’s treatment of Buss since he left the organization.
But if Buss is willing to forgive and forget then how can any true Lakers fan not do the same? Besides, nobody wants to see the Lakers tie and surpass the Celtics’ 17 championships more than Buss does.
Can you picture a sweeter scenario for him than watching them celebrate while O’Neal trips over purple and gold confetti on his way back to the loser’s locker room?
I can’t.
Andrew Ungvari is a co-lead blogger for SirCharlesInCharge.com. Follow him on twitter.