<div class="quote_poster">Quoting :</div><div class="quote_post">O'Neal is gone, long gone in fact, but won't soon be forgotten. Not by a Magic franchise that still seems engulfed by the funk of letting arguably the game's most dominating physical force in history slip through their fingers. "Losing Shaq is something that just hangs over you," said Magic senior vice president Pat Williams, one of the founders of the franchise 15 years ago. "We're still trying to get over it. That happened in the summer of 1996 and we're still trying to dig out from it. We tried it with Penny Hardaway alone and a patchwork of centers. We had the 'Heart and Hustle' group and then we went back to the superstar route and took a run at Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady, which hasn't worked, either. So we continue to retool it." </div> Full Story
That was a halfassed thing for Shaq to do IMO. He should just manned up and said hey fellaz I ain't comin' back so do what you need to do. He led 'em on into believin' he was comin' back and all the stories bein' reported were false and when the time came he bolted.
Very good article, I enjoyed it a lot.The funny thing is, I too believe McGrady will end up in L.A. some day if Kobe leaves after this season. I remember rumors in the past that Shaq wanted to play with McGrady instead of Kobe, and with that scenario, I could see that happening. This article just reminds me of how much I hate Shaq, and should this happen, I'll never watch a Laker game with Shaq ever again. I've always hated the selfish things Shaq has done in his career, and I wouldn't be surprised one bit if he ends up being the reason Kobe leaves this offseason. Jackson doesn't help by always making statements on who's team it is every time out of the blue. I remember Phil making the same kind of statement two seasons ago when the Lakers were playing well and everything was flowing. Some things he does just pisses me off. The Lakers will probably have to choose between Shaq or Kobe at the end of this season, and if they do choose Shaq, they will be throwing away a lot. They might get T-Mac like the article suggested, but you'll be losing much more than Kobe if he is gone. Unfortunately, I don't see a bright future ahead of the Lakers with all the nasty clouds ahead of us.
Very good article, I enjoyed it a lot.The funny thing is, I too believe McGrady will end up in L.A. some day if Kobe leaves after this season. I remember rumors in the past that Shaq wanted to play with McGrady instead of Kobe, and with that scenario, I could see that happening. This article just reminds me of how much I hate Shaq, and should this happen, I'll never watch a Laker game with Shaq ever again. I've always hated the selfish things Shaq has done in his career, and I wouldn't be surprised one bit if he ends up being the reason Kobe leaves this offseason. Jackson doesn't help by always making statements on who's team it is every time out of the blue. I remember Phil making the same kind of statement two seasons ago when the Lakers were playing well and everything was flowing. Some things he does just pisses me off. The Lakers will probably have to choose between Shaq or Kobe at the end of this season, and if they do choose Shaq, they will be throwing away a lot. They might get T-Mac like the article suggested, but you'll be losing much more than Kobe if he is gone. Unfortunately, I don't see a bright future ahead of the Lakers with all the nasty clouds ahead of us in L.A. either. EDIT: sorry I kinda threw in a lot of Laker stuff in this post in this Orlando Magic thread, kinda got carried away.
Why is this being brought up now? I didn't hear any stories when the Magic were up 3-1 in the series vs Detroit. It was all smiles, now that everything has fallen apart, the Shaq thing gets brought up. How is something like that still hang over their heads? Let's just face it, McGrady was obviously a great addition to this Orlando ball club, and has carried them on his back throughout the last few years. But they have no one to blame but themselves for signing an injury prone Grant Hill. That's the one that needs to be hanging over their heads.
Good point. This stuff only comes up when people are looking for excuses. It gets annoying because it just sounds like people are living in the past and not thinking about how to improve the future of the franchise.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Phreeze:</div><div class="quote_post">Very good article, I enjoyed it a lot.The funny thing is, I too believe McGrady will end up in L.A. some day if Kobe leaves after this season. I remember rumors in the past that Shaq wanted to play with McGrady instead of Kobe, and with that scenario, </div> Thats a good thought, but I doubt McGrady would like it... He has to be on his own team for awhile.. I am sure if he gets to the point where he wants a championship.. He will join Shaq in L.A. You can't replace Shaq.. Thats impossible.. Shaq is not replacable.. But you can try and fill the void as best you can.. Which we havnt.. Like Purple N Gold and Jump said.. I dont know why we are still crying over the loss of Shaq.. Sure we could of won the Three Championships, we could have Karl Malone and Gary Payton.. We could be what the lakers where, but we arnt... Shaq left, We signed Hill and McGrady, and Hill has a recurring Ankle problem.. We need to rebuild and we need to do it now..
I really like the Magic, they've always been one of my favorite offensive run franchises. It's been real tough these recent seasons. Losing Shaq, never really having much team or individual talent and no real defensive or big man presence. Also do not forget you lost Big Ben as well. He was underrated and rarely used, he could've been your Center, you gave him up as well and now look where and how he's gone. I'm happy for him though, he wouldn't have gotten so much hype in the Magic, Shaq on the otherhand still would have. Hopefully you'll get someone awesome in the next Draft, you'll get a good chance since you've been performing so badly this season.
think about the players we've had that we habe lost: Shaq, Penny, Ben. add them with T-Mac, and we could have a few championships. We need to speed our mony on keeping ggod players in Orlando insted of trading them, or losing them ot free angency.
I will guarantee you, that Steven Hunter will get put on that list. Steven Hunter will become a huge defensive presence. It's hard to get a good Center if we play Andrew Declerq over any potential good centers.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bhsn4life:</div><div class="quote_post">think about the players we've had that we habe lost: Shaq, Penny, Ben. add them with T-Mac, and we could have a few championships. We need to speed our mony on keeping ggod players in Orlando insted of trading them, or losing them ot free angency.</div> Wouldn't have had the money to go around for T-Mac. Shaq and Penny alone would have taken up 80% of their pay roll.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Phreeze:</div><div class="quote_post">Wouldn't have had the money to go around for T-Mac. Shaq and Penny alone would have taken up 80% of their pay roll.</div> Grant Hill has a 7 year $93million contract, thats a lot of money. All that money to pay somebody to sit in the sidelines. Hopefully he can come back this season.
