NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most decorated centers ever who brought huge success to the Los Angeles Lakers. Shaq led the Lakers to three straight championships, a feat many legends who came before him and even the iconic “Showtime Lakers” could not achieve. The Big Diesel was at the peak of his game at the time. He won the 2000 NBA MVP and also won the Finals MVP award for three-straight years. Other than Shaq, only NBA legend Michael Jordan has won three consecutive Finals MVP awards. Despite carrying the team on his broad shoulders, Shaq had a sour ending with the team, which led to a very provocative situation.

Shaquille O’Neal on his infamous trade 

Amidst the beef with teammate Kobe Bryant and the team’s poor performances in the playoffs, the Lakers decided to stick with Bryant and trade Shaquille O’Neal. This did not sit well with Shaq because he heard about it while watching TV and not from the front office. So he was angry at the Lakers’ General Manager at the time Mitch Kupchak. In fact, Shaq wanted to confront Kupchak and headed to the arena. The Big Diesel was recently asked about it during the latest episode of the Big Podcast with Shaq. During the show, the crew talked about the Brooklyn Nets’ reluctance to trade Kyrie Irving to the Lakers.

Nischelle Turner then brought up the Lakers meeting Shaq’s demands of trading him to the Miami Heat. However, Shaq recounted that he respectfully requested to be traded to the Heat and proclaimed he would not demand anything petulantly in front of his mother. But Turner hilariously asked him whether his mother knew when Shaq went to confront Kupchak. Shaq laughed and replied, “Yes, she did. I’m just saying, I took my last bite of cereal. I got in my crown Victoria and I went there and the cops was waiting.”

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The cops informed O’Neal that they have orders not to let him through. Shaq added that he told the cops that he just wanted to get his belongings but deep down wanted to confront Kupchak. The four-time NBA champion is someone who has great respect for the police, so he complied.

O’Neal’s move to the Miami Heat

Shaquille O’Neal was angry at the Los Angeles Lakers because of the way they treated him after everything he had done for them. Interestingly, legendary head coach Phil Jackson wanted Shaq on the team and was ready to part ways with Bryant. However, the team decided otherwise since Bryant was relatively younger.

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So Shaq wanted to prove to the Lakers his worth. Because of his legendary achievements with the Lakers, the team decided to grant his wish and traded him to the Miami Heat. O’Neal then helped the Heat win their first-ever title in 2006.