The Fan Voice: "Will LeBron Pull a Shaq? (aka 'Reflecting and Relating')"

By Live or Die Magic | January 15th, 2010

After reading and/or listening to multiple reports and comments about the New York Knicks attempt to lure LeBron James away from the Cleveland Cavaliers this coming offseason, I couldn’t help but think back to the Summer of 1996 when the Los Angeles Lakers were able to pry Shaquille O’Neal from us. At the risk of stirring up old hurt feelings, I thought I’d provide my thoughts on the matter and also provide you with some insight I was fortunate to get from two individuals with more knowledge than I.

First off, I’m curious if it bothers anyone else that various sectors of the media and even a large number of fans are expressing anger toward the New York Knicks and their rather transparent attempt to create salary cap space to sign LeBron? Actually, I’m not bothered by their anger, but I do find it odd this same anger, at least from a league-wide perspective, was not present back during the 1995-1996 season when the Los Angeles Lakers were doing the same thing, if a little more discreetly. It was gut-wrenching and franchise-devastating when the Orlando Magic lost O’Neal back then, and in my mind, Cleveland losing LeBron to the Knicks, or any other team, is the only event that could possibly equal or trump it. At least the Cavaliers have had several years to prepare for the possibility, and at least they got to resign James once already. The Magic had less than a season to prepare for Shaq’s departure and up until he had announced that he had signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, no Magic fan dared to consider the terrible scenario.

So why is it that everyone seems to dislike the idea of the Knicks trading for expiring contracts, signing their own free agents to one year deals, and generally putting an inferior product on the floor, on purpose? Why are people clamoring for change now? Where were these people 14 years ago? Why is it different?

Could the difference between sentiment now and sentiment then be partly because we’ve been through this before? Is the reaction to the Knicks’ actions due to the NBA fan base and the media already seeing this situation play out one too many times? Do I dare consider the thought that those that follow the NBA actually learned something from all the time spent by the Orlando Magic franchise in the sports abyss? Yeah, I’m not buying it either. Sports fans tend to place the needs and desires of their own favorite team(s) above the needs of all other teams, or even the league as a whole. So, I’m not thinking that the NBA fan base wants a pity party for Cleveland, let alone a retroactive one for the Magic.

More likely, the reason for the difference is because now, in 2010, the way the game is covered has evolved far beyond how it was covered in 1996. The way that the media makes information available to the fans, and the way that the fans access both the media’s information, and the league’s product itself, has changed drastically. Back then, there weren’t any blogs or tweets, and really, there were very few websites at all, in comparison to today or even to 10 years ago. For most NBA fans, your NBA news came from Sportscenter and your local newspaper. So, even if there were an equivalent uproar back then, there were not as many outlets for that uproar to be disseminated.

At a recent Magic home game, I spoke with former Magic GM John Gabriel. Gabriel has an interesting view of all of this. In 1996, he was part of the Magic’s front office who so desperately tried to sign Shaq to an extension. Today, he is a scout for, yep, you guessed it, the New York Knicks. John agreed with my opinion that the way the NBA is covered now is a major factor in the difference in perception. As for 1996, Gabriel did hint that the Magic were aware of the history between Shaq and his LA-based agent Leonard Armato, and that Armato was pushing Shaq to leave all along. Regarding his being on the other side of the situation now, he did make sure to point out that everything that Knicks GM Donnie Walsh has done has been up-front and above board. In other words, Walsh is not trying to break any NBA tampering rules. I will go to my grave firmly believing that Armato and then-Lakers president Jerry West were taking tampering to a new level back in 1996.

I was also able to speak with Orlando Magic executive Pat Williams about the differences and similarities between the Magic/Lakers situation with Shaquille O’Neal back in 1996 and the Cavaliers/Knicks situation with LeBron James this season. Williams, like Gabriel, was part of the Magic’s front office in 1996 and so he also had an interesting perspective on the situation. Williams feels that it ultimately came down to the Magic getting burned by a loophole in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement that allowed a player to become an unrestricted free agent within the framework of his rookie contract.

This loophole sounds completely ludicrous by today’s NBA standards. To put it in perspective, consider the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant or the Portland Trailblazers’ Brandon Roy. Both players are irreplaceable to their teams and their cities. Imagine if this offseason, Roy was able to leave Portland, after completing his fourth season, and the Trailblazers received no compensation and had no recourse. It would be even worse if in the summer of 2011, after completing his fourth season, Durant left the Thunder dark and cloudy (yes, I went there.). Both teams, and both teams’ fan bases, can breathe a sigh of relief because neither of them can lose these players in quite that manner. Shortly after the Magic lost Shaq, the NBA closed this little “loophole” that allowed players to easily become unrestricted free agents during their rookie contracts. Today, a rookie’s contract value is predetermined by his draft position. A player drafted in the first round will receive a standard 5-year contract, with the final two years being option years. Because the team has the option of extending the contract, it allows the player to become a restricted free-agent in year four. So, even if the two sides cannot reach agreement on an extension, the team at least can consider trade options to avoid losing the player for nothing. No such options were available to the Magic in 1996.

There is one crucial difference between the Magic/Shaq situation and the Cavaliers/LeBron situation: the current rookie contract setup allowed the Cavaliers to successfully resign LeBron James once already. Granted, James did choose to sign a shorter deal, but the team has still managed to keep his services for seven seasons (three seasons longer than the Magic has Shaq). This same rookie contract setup also prevented lightning striking twice here in Orlando, as the Magic were able to extend Dwight Howard past his rookie contract. So, the system does work in this sense.

Of course, nothing can stop an elite player from leaving a team once he has reached unrestricted free agent status. At that point, it truly comes down to whether the player wants to stay with that team or not. Money still plays a factor, as the current team can still sign the player for more money and more years, but if the player wants a change, there is really nothing the team can do except hope and pray for a sign and trade. The Magic sure would have liked a sign and trade back in 1996. I think it is worth pointing out that the three major free agent signings the Magic have made since then – Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill in 2000, and Rashard Lewis in 2007 – were sign and trades, not unrestricted free agents signings. So, no matter how unbalanced the trades might have been, at least those players’ former teams didn’t come away empty handed. Sure, the sign and trades benefitted the players, but I choose to believe that, at the very least, the Magic front office also showed some consideration to their trade partners.

So, getting back to today’s perception of the New York Knicks…even if coverage and access to information is more widespread, the sentiment and the principle should be the same, right? Time period or environment shouldn’t matter when considering whether the Knicks deserve the ire of the NBA fan base. I believe that teams should be permitted to improve themselves, in whatever manner they can, provided they are operating within the NBA framework. But there are problems with dumping salary, acquiring expiring contracts, or signing short term deals. This plan typically translates to a bad record (’99-’00 Magic being an exception) in the present, with no guarantee that your efforts will be rewarded. It takes a very open-minded fan base to deal with going from bad to worse. In the case of the Knicks, you are asking fans who are paying more for tickets than any other franchise to pay those same rates while also acknowledging that the team is purposely performing actions that lead to a less-competitive product. So, yeah, one could argue that this transparency has a direct impact on the integrity of the game.

By the way, I find it absolutely hilarious – but not in a funny way – that Shaq has a connection to both the Magic’s situation in 1996 and the Cavaliers situation now. I mean, what were the Cavs thinking bringing in the most disloyal superstar in the history of the NBA to be around their franchise player during his free agent season? Is Shaq really the player you want whispering free agent advice into LeBron’s ear? For all we know, Shaq may already have a nice little package deal worked out with Knicks GM Donnie Walsh! If the Knicks end up with both LeBron James and Shaq this offseason, the league should just implode right on top of David Stern’s office.

So, give me your thoughts. How do you feel about what the Knicks are doing? Do the recent accusations by former Cavaliers coach John Lucas that the Cavs tanked the 2002-2003 season in order to better position themselves to draft LeBron change your perceptions of this whole situation? What are your thoughts on the differences between now and 1996?

This message was not subject of approval by the NBA or the Orlando Magic. The views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of the Orlando Magic or the NBA, but solely the writer.

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Now that is out of my system, my big problem with the Shaq deal were the following.

Shaq reasons for leaving had nothing to do with basketball.

-The Magic were willing to pay the same as the Lakers

-Shaq liked the city and still has a home here, in fact his mother liked it so much she never left to follow him to LA.

-The Magic had a better team considering Kobe was just a kid out of high school no one knew would be that good.

Shaq left because his agent convinced him he would have a better chance at advertising and movie deals if he went to LA.

My biggest problem was his agent had a very close friendship with the owner of the Lakers who clearly knew if he cleared money Shaq would come.

The Knicks on the other hand have no guarantee and will in fact will be competing with the Nets, Heat and other teams who cleared cap space for this summer.

The FA playing field is much more level than it was back during the Shaq fiasco. Cleveland has had three years to prepare for this summer, Orlando was blindsided so bad that it scared everyone else to the point they closed the loophole.

Shaq is/ was a snake in the grass And bron bron has always professed his love for all things NY and the knicks have done the same thing with lebron. No secret and no problems

Excellent Read LOD and very up front about what is going on. I would say your best one yet.

The Knicks are doing exactly what you have written here but they would like to throw you off the scent with talks of economy as the reasoning for 1-year extensions and the roster changes made to accomadte rising stars and rookie players, when in reality they are doing EXACTLY what you have written here and will hopefully pull off the biggest coup since Shaq.

I think that their best bet for CLE would be to trade the 2 expirings of Big Z and Shaq for a star player and that way they own both Lebron's and His bird rights. if not letting both of them expire is actually very shrewd as it brings them under the cap and allows them room to sign a big FA while also being able to offer Lebron his Max Contract. How all the numbers play out expecially with James' cap hold im not sure...

Hey guys, thanks for your thoughts!

WOW! I'm very surprised this hasn't generated more discussion! C'mon people, you don't have any thoughts on this issue? It is certainly a very real possibility.

Even before Shaq was drafted he was talking about wanting to play in LA, even if we had a traveling all-star team I think he was going to leave at his first opportunity. He was well within his rights to do so however he screwed us all over and not only did he not give it a second thought, he had the nerve to bash us on the way out.

I agree with you, Cleveland should have really thought twice about having this giant turd around Lebron this year. Can't you just see Shaq in his ear every time they have a tough stretch or they play in a media city? I can picture him telling him how great it would be to play in LA or NY because more than anything else the attention is what is important to Shaq.

quote:

Originally posted by Live or Die Magic:
WOW! I'm very surprised this hasn't generated more discussion! C'mon people, you don't have any thoughts on this issue? It is certainly a very real possibility.

Well, blame on you, for posting it just before the week-end. Also, people here are too much involved in how to trade every memeber of the franchise, in order to have a record of 82-0 next year.

J/K, obviously



I can't answer you on the matter, because at the time of Shaq bolting to L.A., as you correcty stated, the media coverage was really different, and if you still had " Sportscenter and your local newspaper ", in Europe I had neither.
So, a lot of the things you've wrote are almost news for me right now, but the way you've described it, makes a lot of sense IMO.

In a side note, I really hate the way the media are covering every bit of this saga right now. Is really THAT important to know how many times LBJ go to the bathroom everyday?
Surely, he's giving a solid contribution to create all this hype on his future, but outside Ohio and NY city, I really wonder if people is still interested in every article that everyday is written on the matter.

First option...

If Lebron says anything less than "first choice", call the movers.

U can see similar things wen u compare of what shaq did...Both teams ( magic , cavs) getting pieces to surround them but by the time they get the pieces for the guy ,they leave...

Just a follow up on this topic.. let's not forget some details of Benedict "Shaq" O'neal bolting for the Fakers.. first off.. try not to laugh.. The Lakers could not have signed Shaq if other teams had not helped them.. such as the Hornets trading away some guy named Kobe Bryant for aging veteran Vlade Divac and (gulp) the Vancouver Grizzlies trading for such superstars as George Lynch.. I guess they figured they would sell lots of tickets if they had George Lynch and better chance to win the West if the Lakers had Shaq.. real brilliant Vancouver and Charlotte aka New Orleans .. and did anyone find it amazing that the schedule had already been made and had the Lakers on the max number of times b4 Shaq decided on the Lakers.. do I hear anyone thinking league conspiracy? oh well Shaq has his $$$ and his rings and the legacy of being a trader and a liar.. as much as it sucked being stuck with Grant Hill's contract for seven years and his medical bills.. at least you can still respect him.

quote:

Originally posted by MagicVan:
Just a follow up on this topic.. let's not forget some details of Benedict "Shaq" O'neal bolting for the Fakers.. first off.. try not to laugh.. The Lakers could not have signed Shaq if other teams had not helped them.. such as the Hornets trading away some guy named Kobe Bryant for aging veteran Vlade Divac and (gulp) the Vancouver Grizzlies trading for such superstars as George Lynch.. I guess they figured they would sell lots of tickets if they had George Lynch and better chance to win the West if the Lakers had Shaq.. real brilliant Vancouver and Charlotte aka New Orleans .. and did anyone find it amazing that the schedule had already been made and had the Lakers on the max number of times b4 Shaq decided on the Lakers.. do I hear anyone thinking league conspiracy? oh well Shaq has his $$$ and his rings and the legacy of being a trader and a liar.. as much as it sucked being stuck with Grant Hill's contract for seven years and his medical bills.. at least you can still respect him.

Thanks for the input MagicVan...good stuff.
Actually, I choose to have very little respect for Grant Hill after the way he left us. But that is another entire blog piece!

The beauty of Shaq's "legacy" is that the man does not have a place to call home. None of his former teams, even those with whom he won titles, have goodwill toward him now.