Shaquille O’Neal started his career with the Orlando Magic before leaving in the 1996 offseason after a series of unfortunate events. The franchise could have likely had the legendary center longer had it made enough efforts to keep him in free agency.
Instead, the Magic looked intent on driving O’Neal away, lowballing him with an offer tens of millions less than his asking price. To make matters worse, the Orlando media conducted a ridiculous poll asking citizens if the star center was worth $115 million. The result was catastrophic, as the majority answered negatively.
The timing of the survey couldn’t have been worse for Shaq, as he was with his fellow Team USA members training for the Olympics at the time. He wrote in his memoir ” Shaq Uncut: My Story ” how humiliating learning about the poll was.
“Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen were ragging on me. They were saying things like, ‘Your own fans don’t want you.’ I won’t lie to you – it was embarrassing.”