Lakers’ Punishment for Shaquille O’Neal Changed Mark Cuban’s Mavs With Major Trade Move

After losing the 2004 NBA Finals to Detroit, the Lakers faced offseason chaos. Despite being heavy favorites, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant fell to the Pistons in 2004. The rumors rumbled about Lakers’ superstars wanting to leave, and many teams pitched to sign either of the two guys. One team apparently in the mix was also the Phoenix Suns. At the time, the team’s young star Amar’e Stoudemire knew about the plans that he had recently revealed.

Eventually, the Lakers convinced Kobe to stay and traded away Shaq to the Miami Heat. But teams that threw their hat to sign Kobe were the Bulls or the rival Clippers. But the Suns were not far behind since he had a liking for the coach, Mike D’Antoni. Similarly, for O’Neal, the suitors that made him a priority were Mark Cuban’s team, the Dallas Mavericks. But it was the team Steve Nash was playing for, and he wanted to continue after being a free agent. That’s when the Suns scooped him up with the help of Stoudemire.

“It was an option whether to try to get Shaq, Kobe, or Nash. And so Dallas was going back and forth with Shaq. And so Nash was like, ‘Well, I’m here waiting guys, you got to tell me something.’ I had one rookie of the year. The second year we had traded, you know, a lot of players, and we’re trying to revamp. And then I went to Dallas to go help recruit Steve.”

The 2003 ROTY, Amar’e Stoudemire, spoke about the possibility of signing Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal before they signed Steve Nash. Wanting to pivot around Shaq, Cuban offered Nash a modest four-year, $36 M deal ($9 M/year). On the other hand, Suns were aggressive with their bidding and offered a six-year, $63 million contract. Plus, the Mavs were waiting to sign the Big Aristotle, which tipped the Suns as the next destination for Nash. But how close truly was Shaq to signing with Dallas?

Shaquille O’Neal reveals the real reason for not moving to Dallas

The 4x NBA champion wanted to leave the Lakers and requested a trade. His ex-agent told EssentiallySports last year about the trade that nearly happened. “Shaq loves Dallas as a city. And I think he actually has a home there…  I was representing Shaq, and Mark would say, ‘Well, gee, I wish I had somebody like Shaq on my team.’” The former agent, Leonard Armato, also revealed that O’Neal always respected Cuban.

That’s why Shaquille O’Neal wanted a move to the Mavericks. “Trust me, I tried to get to Dallas many times. Me and Mark was working behind the scenes. And He’s (Mark) like, ‘The Lakers won’t do it,’ and I was like “F— make them do it, Mark.’ And they wouldn’t do it,” Shaq recollected on The Big Podcast last year. Plus, his exit from the Purple and Gold franchise was not because of the beef with Kobe Bryant. Instead, the team offered him less money than he wanted.

“The reason I got traded, it wasn’t about me and Kobe (Bryant’s) beef. (It was) because they (the Lakers) wanted me to take less money. I’m not doing that.” So, the delay in joining the Mavs helped Amar’e Stoudemire and the Suns to swoop in for Steve Nash. Eventually, the move worked for all parties as Nash won 2x MVP awards, Shaq added his 4th title, this time with the Miami Heat.