{"id":1517321,"date":"2022-06-28T13:56:50","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T17:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1517321"},"modified":"2022-06-28T15:00:51","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T19:00:51","slug":"shaquille-oneal-talked-trash-lakers-owner-jerry-buss-during-preseason-game-those-4-words-sealed-shaqs-fate-as-laker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/shaquille-oneal-talked-trash-lakers-owner-jerry-buss-during-preseason-game-those-4-words-sealed-shaqs-fate-as-laker\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaquille O'Neal Talked Trash to Lakers Owner Jerry Buss During a Preseason Game, and Those 4 Words ‘Sealed Shaq's Fate' as a Laker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the 2003-04 preseason, the pairing of Shaquille O'Neal<\/a> and Kobe Bryant<\/a> on the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> reached a boiling point. After three NBA championships together, the most dominant one-two combination in basketball history could no longer stand to be on the same team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less than a year later, the Lakers would trade Shaq to the Miami Heat and sign Bryant to a long-term extension. However, O'Neal put the final nail in his own Lakers coffin that preseason in Hawaii by talking trash to LA owner Dr. Jerry Buss<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The LA Lakers organization had to choose between Shaq and Kobe <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Shaquille
Shaquille O'Neal | G Fiume\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the back-to-back-to-back LA Lakers NBA title-winning seasons between 1999 and 2002, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant operated under an uneasy truce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zen master\/head coach Phil Jackson mediated, massaged egos, and milked everything he could out of the superstar pairing. By 2003, though, the relationship was broken beyond repair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That offseason, Bryant faced sexual assault charges<\/a> in Eagle, Colorado, and infamously dragged O'Neal into the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Bryant's (2004) and O'Neal's (2005) contracts would be up within the next two years. Owner Jerry Buss and his front office would have to choose<\/a> between Bryant, 25, and O'Neal, 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2003-04 Lakers were the NBA's first true superteam. In addition to Shaq and Kobe, the roster included title-chasing NBA All-Stars Karl Malone<\/a>, Gary Payton, and Horace Grant. The team finished 56-26 in the regular season and cruised through the Western Conference Playoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2004 NBA Finals, the Lakers faced the greater-than-the-sum-of-their-parts Detroit Pistons, though, and lost in five games. One month later, the Lakers traded Shaq to the Miami Heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shaquille O'Neal disrespecting Lakers Owner Jerry Buss' sealed Shaq's fate' in 2003<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

"At times, I thought, \u2018Why am I giving away all this information that he\u2019s going to use right against me?\u2019" Michael Jordan couldn\u2019t help but share his secrets with a young Kobe Bryant.

Just one part of a packed \u2018Icons Club\u2019 Episode 7. https:\/\/t.co\/vGYI1SCA2i<\/a><\/p>— The Ringer (@ringer) April 8, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>