Kblaze8855
01-23-2024, 12:41 PM
The phones at One Magic Place in Orlando were ringing Thursday, mostly from callers wondering how Shaquille O’Neal could have been allowed to become a Laker, but occasionally from someone telling John Gabriel that the price was too high, let Shaq go, we’re with you.
They are the 90 percenters.
One day before O’Neal signed a $120-million contract with the Lakers, the Orlando Sentinel asked its readers about the Magic’s offer: “Is Shaquille O’Neal worth $115 million over seven seasons?”
The answer was no, from 4,668 callers, or 91.3% of the respondents.
“Not the type of thing that you want to come out on the day that your franchise player is about to sign or not re-sign,” said Gabriel, the Magic’s vice president for basketball operations and player personnel.
“I really wonder why that came out on the day it did. I wanted to call to find out why, but I didn’t really want to ask the question. Shaq is a kid who wanted to be accepted and appreciated. Maybe it’s a factor. I don’t know.”
It wasn’t, said Sentinel columnist Brian Schmitz, in Atlanta for the Olympics and coverage of O’Neal and the Dream Team.
“I don’t really think that had anything to do with it,” Schmitz said. “I think he was headed to L.A. all along.”
Schmitz said that he read the Sentinel’s poll result as a reaction to:
--The Magic’s quick departure from this year’s playoffs, leaving many Orlando fans angry.
--And O’Neal’s recent involvement in rap videos and movies, giving some fans the impression that his efforts toward basketball are less than 100%.
“I also think that hard-core basketball fans could clearly see his potential and also see he wasn’t using it,” Schmitz said.
If so, they won’t find out in Orlando, where Thursday was not about blame-throwing or fault-finding by Magic team officials. It was a day for questions that have yet to be answered and for reliving recent memories. And for wondering how a structure built over four seasons was going to stand without its foundation, realized potential or not.
“Right after the press conference, Pat Williams [the Magic’s general manager] and I were together, commiserating,” said Gabriel. “It’s sad. We felt as if four years of work has been ripped up.
“We felt as though we did the right things for four years. We built a team around him. We’ve been a model for a young franchise, doing things the right way, and it’s been a storybook.”
With an unhappy ending. Orlando has Jon Koncak at center, a fill-in at best, and no real prospects for getting a real starter for the $250,000 it can pay.
“He’s virtually irreplaceable,” said Gabriel. “Because of the [salary] cap ramifications, you cannot go spend the dollars that we were once going to offer him. . . . So it will set us back quite a bit.”
Those dollars, by the way, were more than the Lakers’ $120 million, according to reports in Orlando. And they were apparently offensive to Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles and some listeners to a radio station that played “Hit the Road, Shaq.”
“I don’t blame the players. But it shows you maybe where we are as a country, where we are willing to put our money,” Chiles said.
“Obviously, some think they are making money paying $100 million salaries. But let’s examine: What is a teacher worth; what is a policeman worth; what is a day-care worker worth?”
Of course you know what the outcome is going to be when you ask every day people if an athlete is worth over $100 million. That result is expected. What really makes the magic fans look bad is the same poll asked if they should fire coach Hill, if it meant keeping Shaq, and they also voted against that.
I don’t know if any coach wins that poll against a superstar of Shaqs level right now.
Spo maybe?
Does Spo win that poll vs Jimmy Butler?
He might. But he’d be the only one I think.
They are the 90 percenters.
One day before O’Neal signed a $120-million contract with the Lakers, the Orlando Sentinel asked its readers about the Magic’s offer: “Is Shaquille O’Neal worth $115 million over seven seasons?”
The answer was no, from 4,668 callers, or 91.3% of the respondents.
“Not the type of thing that you want to come out on the day that your franchise player is about to sign or not re-sign,” said Gabriel, the Magic’s vice president for basketball operations and player personnel.
“I really wonder why that came out on the day it did. I wanted to call to find out why, but I didn’t really want to ask the question. Shaq is a kid who wanted to be accepted and appreciated. Maybe it’s a factor. I don’t know.”
It wasn’t, said Sentinel columnist Brian Schmitz, in Atlanta for the Olympics and coverage of O’Neal and the Dream Team.
“I don’t really think that had anything to do with it,” Schmitz said. “I think he was headed to L.A. all along.”
Schmitz said that he read the Sentinel’s poll result as a reaction to:
--The Magic’s quick departure from this year’s playoffs, leaving many Orlando fans angry.
--And O’Neal’s recent involvement in rap videos and movies, giving some fans the impression that his efforts toward basketball are less than 100%.
“I also think that hard-core basketball fans could clearly see his potential and also see he wasn’t using it,” Schmitz said.
If so, they won’t find out in Orlando, where Thursday was not about blame-throwing or fault-finding by Magic team officials. It was a day for questions that have yet to be answered and for reliving recent memories. And for wondering how a structure built over four seasons was going to stand without its foundation, realized potential or not.
“Right after the press conference, Pat Williams [the Magic’s general manager] and I were together, commiserating,” said Gabriel. “It’s sad. We felt as if four years of work has been ripped up.
“We felt as though we did the right things for four years. We built a team around him. We’ve been a model for a young franchise, doing things the right way, and it’s been a storybook.”
With an unhappy ending. Orlando has Jon Koncak at center, a fill-in at best, and no real prospects for getting a real starter for the $250,000 it can pay.
“He’s virtually irreplaceable,” said Gabriel. “Because of the [salary] cap ramifications, you cannot go spend the dollars that we were once going to offer him. . . . So it will set us back quite a bit.”
Those dollars, by the way, were more than the Lakers’ $120 million, according to reports in Orlando. And they were apparently offensive to Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles and some listeners to a radio station that played “Hit the Road, Shaq.”
“I don’t blame the players. But it shows you maybe where we are as a country, where we are willing to put our money,” Chiles said.
“Obviously, some think they are making money paying $100 million salaries. But let’s examine: What is a teacher worth; what is a policeman worth; what is a day-care worker worth?”
Of course you know what the outcome is going to be when you ask every day people if an athlete is worth over $100 million. That result is expected. What really makes the magic fans look bad is the same poll asked if they should fire coach Hill, if it meant keeping Shaq, and they also voted against that.
I don’t know if any coach wins that poll against a superstar of Shaqs level right now.
Spo maybe?
Does Spo win that poll vs Jimmy Butler?
He might. But he’d be the only one I think.