Imagine giving up $32 million just to play for your biggest rival. Sounds wild, right? But that’s exactly what Rick Fox did back in 1998, leaving the Boston Celtics for their biggest rival in the league, the Los Angeles Lakers. Wondering what made the 3x NBA champ leave Boston to join forces with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal? Especially when he had come into the league with Larry Bird as his idol. Fox revealed it during his recent appearance on Giant Ventures.

You’d think being drafted by your idol’s team would be a dream come true, but Fox’s story had a rough start. On draft night itself, Boston fans didn’t exactly roll out the red carpet. “They booed,” Fox said, recalling how unknown he was at the time. Without social media in 1991, fans had little to go on, and they’d hoped for a more familiar name from the Big East. Still, Celtics legend Red Auerbach saw potential and picked him anyway. Even though Fox admitted his NCAA title game hadn’t been his best showing.

Despite that rocky welcome, Fox came in with a crystal-clear goal. In one of his first interviews, when asked what he wanted from his NBA career, he didn’t hold back on high aspirations. “I said, ‘I want to play 12 years and win three championships. And I got that because of Larry Bird. He had played 12 years and won three that championships at that point. So that was my next blueprint.”

But plans don’t always go the way we hope. Bird never stepped on the NBA hardwood the year after Fox’s rookie season. Subsequently, the Celtics struggled, and Rick Fox’s blueprint was running short on time. Then came the time when he could’ve signed a $33 million contract in Boston. But a reported delay from the Celtics drove Fox to LA to chase his championship aspirations.

“No amount of money was going to stop me from finding the best scenario and the best teammates and the best coaches to play with going forward,” he said on Giant Ventures. LA had a young Shaquille O’Neal, a rising Kobe Bryant, and Jerry West personally recruiting him. “I knew that the Lakers were committed to championships as well. And they said I was the glue. They said I was the missing piece.”

While there is no denying that Fox gave up millions to pursue championship aspirations with the Lakers, there was a moment when he nearly stayed with the Celtics.

Rick Fox had initially agreed to the $33 million deal with the Celtics

Fresh out of North Carolina, Rick Fox left as the Tar Heels’ all-time leader in steals and games played. And didn’t take long to make waves in the league. He became the first rookie to start on opening night for the Celtics since Larry Bird back in ’79. Through his years in green, Fox averaged 10.7 points and 1.2 steals, mostly coming off the bench as a dependable sixth man.

By his sixth season, the Celtics were in desperate need of a turnaround—and that’s when Rick Pitino stepped in as President and Coach. But Fox, then the team captain, opted out of his deal, feeling his value was being overlooked. But Pitino made one thing clear—he wanted Fox to stay and be the cornerstone. And Fox? “I bought into that vision,” he once said, during an interview.

A seven-year, $33 million deal was verbally locked in, but that weekend, Pitino flew out to LA and inked Travis Knight instead, for less money. Fox never got his deal. “I was in my car waiting for the barbershop to open up,” he said, when the call came in: he had been renounced.

Red Auerbach personally apologized. The Celtics asked him to wait 90 days for the deal, but Rick declined. “I was the hottest free agent on the market because I was a guy worth 33-40 million dollars that could only sign for a million dollars,” Fox said. No wonder Boston lost him, and he started eyeing New York, Atlanta, and eventually landed in Los Angeles. On the positive side, Fox was able to follow Larry Bird’s blueprint as he managed 3 championships with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal-led Lakers before his 13-year-long NBA career ended.