Lakers Get O'Neal In 7-Year Contract
By MALCOLM MORAN
Published: Friday, July 19, 1996
Insisting repeatedly that money was not the issue, Shaquille O'Neal today justified the relentless gamble of the Los Angeles Lakers by accepting a seven-year contract believed to be worth $121 million.
O'Neal abruptly ended his relationship with the Orlando Magic after four seasons during which his team reached the National Basketball Association finals but fell short of a championship.
Orlando's vice president, John Gabriel, suggested the Magic presented O'Neal with an offer superior to the one Los Angeles made, but he did not divulge a figure. .
"I felt our deal was better," Gabriel said.
A person with knowledge of the negotiations said the Magic's offer was close to $130 million.
The person said O'Neal never responded to that Orlando offer, and the Magic organization learned of his decision through a voice mail message.
O'Neal decided early this morning to join a franchise with a more established tradition. He listed the legacy of outstanding centers from George Mikan to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, plus the championship teams of the 1980's led by Magic Johnson.
"Back when Showtime was in Los Angeles, I'd run around the court saying, 'I'm Norm Nixon, I'm Magic, I'm Kareem, and I want to play for the Lakers,' " O'Neal said during a crowded news conference, two days before his first game with the Olympic team.
"Yes, it was a dream."
The package represents the largest contract in a sudden and staggering escalation since free agents could begin negotiations with N.B.A. teams nine days ago. The last reported offer from Orlando had been a seven-year package worth $115 million.
The Lakers, confined by the league's salary-cap restrictions, were able to offer only a reported $95.5 million last week, even after trading Vlade Divac to Charlotte.
But Jerry West, the executive vice president of basketball operations for the Lakers, overcame obstacles that could have ended his team's chances to get O'Neal by trading Anthony Peeler and George Lynch to Vancouver.
By creating additional room beneath the salary cap while preserving a youthful Laker nucleus that includes guards Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones, West was able to increase his team's offer by $25.5 million.
When the deal was complete, West, a Hall of Fame player and National Basketball Association champion who also helped lead the legendary 1960 United States Olympic team, compared his feelings with those at life-altering moments.
"At about 2:15 in the morning when we signed the contract, it was probably the most relieved I've ever felt in my life," West said. "I really can't explain it. I've often thought that the birth of my children was something that I'd never forget. Just the excitement of this, for us to sign him, really rates right there with that."
Two days ago, while training with the Olympic team in the Orlando area, O'Neal had maintained that his interest in furthering his acting career did not depend on a move to Los Angeles and chided reporters who asked about negotiations.
"As a basketball fan I get sick and tired of people talking about numbers," O'Neal said then. "To me, the world is getting too materialistic."
By that time, West's pursuit, with the encouragement of the Laker owner, Jerry Buss, had reached a point of no return. There were no longer any comparable power players on the market. The trading of Divac, Peeler and Lynch had taken place, partly in an effort to convince O'Neal and his agent, Leonard Armato, of the Lakers' intent. Armato said the Lakers had pushed for a commitment long before their final offer was made.
"This deal, or the possibility of this deal, almost fell apart on several occasions," Armato said.
"He almost gave up a few times," Armato said of West. "But being Mr. Clutch, he knew he shouldn't."
West's tenacity, and the added resources created by the trades, allowed the Lakers to mount a legitimate challenge to the Orlando offer.
West remembered his first meeting with O'Neal, when he asked him to pose for a picture with his then 4-year-old son.
This time, a meeting convinced West that O'Neal was worth more than his four-year averages of 27.2 points and 12.5 rebounds. West believed strongly that O'Neal's personality, combined with a game that is still evolving at the age of 24, would be strong enough to captivate southern California. That conviction made the Laker pursuit even more intense.
West pictured O'Neal as the centerpiece of a team that recently added Kobe Bryant, the Philadelphia-area high school player who chose to skip college to join the N.B.A.
"He did make a substantial plea for the possibility of this team going all the way," Armato said.
The rest was left for O'Neal to consider.
He had consistently listed Orlando as his first option. But now he faced an equivalent offer from a glamour team in the Western Conference with a less physical style of play, as opposed to facing dramatically improved Eastern opponents in Miami and New York and the roadblock of the championship Bulls.
There was the life-style issue, the chance to be a celebrity in Los Angeles without the more stifling realities of a smaller city.
"To me, change is for the good," O'Neal said. "I'm a military child, used to moving every three or four years."
Armato said: "He felt this change would be one that would let him grow."
When West's persistence provided Armato with a choice, the agent met with O'Neal here after the team arrived from Orlando.
On Wednesday night, O'Neal appeared with his teammates in a parade at Walt Disney World. As it turned out, he was waving goodbye. Today he held up a yellow Laker jersey with a purple No. 34. O'Neal listened to a question about pressure.
"Pressure is when you don't know where your next meal is coming from," O'Neal said.
