We’ve heard the story on the surface. Shaquille O’Neal wanted a max contract from the Orlando Magic. They refused. Lakers offered a better deal. Shaq moved to the West Coast and eventually won three consecutive championships. It is obviously not as superficial. At the heart of this trade, other than the star athlete himself, is the agent who got O’Neal the contract he was worth. Leonard Armato gave the backstory of how he negotiated a deal that brought Shaq from Orlando to Los Angeles while speaking to EssentiallySports. Armato had a softspoken reputation in ’90s media but his insistence nearly cost Lakers icon Jerry West his job.

Speaking to Vishal Kolar, Armato revealed that he was trying to get the Orlando Magic to up their offer to a max contract under the league’s collective bargaining agreement. But a self-aware Shaq was not impressed by their reluctance and asked Armato to start looking at other teams.

Armato: “Jerry West called me and said, ‘look, I am… we are so interested in Shaquille.’ And I said,’ okay, well make us the best offer you can.’ And so Jerry called me the next day and said, ‘look, I just made a trade to create some cap room. I just traded George Lynch away and I can offer Shaq a $96 million contract for six years.'”

That wouldn’t have worked for Shaq. One of his biggest rivals, Alonzo Mourning, had just signed a $100 million contract. Armato informed West that Shaq won’t settle for less from ‘a point of respect’. So West promised to call him again. The GM was not playing hardball. In a day he moved around pieces and called Armato the next day.

Armato: “Jerry called the next day and says, ‘I’ve done something that I’m really scared about, if you don’t end up accepting this offer, I’m gonna probably lose my job.'” 

The scary thing he did was trade Vlade Divac to Sacramento (interestingly, Divac would come back to the Lakers after Shaq moved to Miami) leaving the Lakers with no center. Now West was able to bump the offer up to $121 million. The rest is history.

Mr. Logo went out of his way for Shaq

There were countless teams interested in the top center in the league who had taken Orlando to the finals a season ago. O’Neal was aware of his worth despite that Orlando Sentinel poll that mocked him. But Armato had personal relations with West from the time he managed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Mr Logo’s legacy as well as the Lakers’ stacked history were good reasons for Shaq to wait for the Lakers offer.

They came through with the huge $121 million contract which Armato described was “fair.” He told O’Neal about the offer and that it would make him the highest paid player of the time and Shaq jumped on the offer. However, the 4X NBA Chmapion has revealed that it wasn’t always about money. “I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok,” he had stated during his free agency.

Armato reasoned his pick saying, “Lakers were a particularly interesting option, because of their heritage and their history and Jerry West you know… obviously his pedigree as someone who had guided many championships.” Reciprocally, West was so inclined to get Shaq before anyone else, he flew to Atlanta where O’Neal was training for the Olympics. They signed the contract in a hotel room and O’Neal ensured West’s job remained intact.