Chapter 627: Chapter 193: Two Fat Guys × 2_3
Then, Jordan had an argument with Jerry Krause.
But considering the 30.14 million US dollars and the over 33 million US dollars player option salary for that year, Jordan was still in a great mood.
In the afternoon, after the Bulls announced the contract extension, Jordan was in a great mood!
Finally, back on the headlines!
But not even half a day later, he felt that the over 30 million contract wasn’t appealing anymore...
He saw news that left even him speechless—the Logo Man voluntarily leaked to the media about signing a 7-year, 127 million US dollar contract with O’Neal, the largest total salary contract in NBA history!
...
O’Neal heading west immediately shook up the league!
Orlando was stunned, not only was there a team willing to offer O’Neal a hundred-million contract, but they also added 27 million on top of the 100 million, which was a slap in the face to their referendum result!
The local Orlando TV station immediately gave an urgent news response—stating that the Lakers made the worst signing in history.
The soap opera between O’Neal and the Magic had been a heated discussion since the offseason began. Some teams willing to offer a hundred-million contract couldn’t attract O’Neal; he wanted to join a championship-contending team and receive a hundred-million deal. Such a demand, even for a super talent like O’Neal, recognized by every team in the league except for the people in Orlando, was deemed too high.
Even famous agents like Redner Amoto hoped he would re-sign with the Magic, as winning a championship brought more commercial value than an additional four to five million US dollars in salary annually. Wanting to stay with a championship team and still get a hundred-million contract, while also choosing where to go, was considered an impossible situation.
The general consensus was that O’Neal only had two options: either go to Texas or stay with the Magic with a yearly salary of millions.
Some believed other scenarios could arise, like if O’Neal didn’t want to go to Texas, and had a complete fallout with the Magic, and went to a rebuilding team that could offer a starting salary of millions and a seven-year over-a-hundred-million contract in a big city. That’s the only option left for a rebuilding team.
But no one expected it to be the Lakers! The same Lakers who had agreed to a 3-year, 22 million US dollar contract with Campbell!
When the Lakers revealed they had reached a verbal agreement with Campbell for three years and 22 million, no one thought they would compete for O’Neal, as Campbell’s only playoff role was to defend against O’Neal. Otherwise, he’d just be a standard shot-blocking center, with very limited abilities.
Thus, when this news broke, many people’s first reaction was that it was fake news.
However, after the media and fans discussed it the whole night, by 8:00 the next morning, when the simplistic NBA website posted the news of the Lakers signing with O’Neal, and the news of O’Neal arriving at the airport early at 7 a.m. to board Lakers owner Jerry Buss’s private plane came out, the entire basketball world was in an uproar!
Zhang Hao, Barkley, O’Neal—the most terrifying frontcourt combination in history was born!
This combo was absolutely explosive! With Barkley as a space power forward, Zhang Hao as the off-ball rookie able to play two forward positions, and O’Neal as the most terrifying low-post beast...
But at this time, a media outlet raised a question... what about Campbell?
The Lakers had already reached a verbal agreement with Campbell, and he rejected the 3-year, 21 million US dollar offer from the Jazz. Surely the Lakers couldn’t break their promise, right?
Although according to the rules, there wouldn’t be any penalties, it’s just a verbal agreement after all.
But this would definitely damage their reputation.
However, if the Lakers really signed Campbell to a 3-year, 22 million US dollar contract, what could Campbell do on the Lakers?
The shot-blocking that Campbell could do, O’Neal could do as well, although O’Neal couldn’t defend against himself.
Campbell, although usually just an ordinary starting-level center, could at least average 30 minutes per game and get 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Also, Campbell was the center many teams in the league wanted to stockpile to counter O’Neal, so he wasn’t worried about not having a contract. But now, the Jazz had already signed Antoine Kael without Bird rights to a 2-year, 5 million US dollar contract, preventing them from using the "Jordan exception" to sign Campbell. Most teams that needed Campbell no longer had the cap space, as everyone assumed the Lakers would definitely keep Campbell and never thought the Lakers would land O’Neal, nor did they think to wait on Campbell.
So now, with Campbell, the O’Neal nemesis, and the introduction of O’Neal at the Lakers’ center position, what was the plan?
Before media and fans could figure it out, the Lakers officially announced that they had signed Brian Shaw from the Magic for one year and 4 million US dollars, acquired free-agent backup point guard James Robinson from the Blazers for 2 years and 2.74 million US dollars, signed former Lakers scoring leader veteran Byron Scott for one year and 250,000 US dollars, and re-signed Magician for 1 million US dollars, renewed Jason Williams on a 2-year 4.42 million total starting at 2.2 million US dollars, and signed rookie Derek Fisher for a 3-year 2.1 million cumulative starting at 610,000 US dollars.
The Lakers, who originally had only 3 players on the roster, now suddenly had Magician, Fisher, James Robinson, Doug Curtis, Brian Shaw, Byron Scott, George Lynch, Zhang Hao, Barkley, Jason Williams, O’Neal, suddenly filling a 11-man rotation!
The Lakers, who hadn’t made a sound for over a month with only the news of matching Campbell’s contract, nearly drove many media outlets crazy. With no news from them, they resorted to being paparazzi capturing Zhang Hao on set.
The sports media had been turned into tabloid gossip reporters by the Lakers and Zhang Hao.
Also, with the Lakers missing out on one quality guard after another, their supportive friendly says were getting anxious. Even if the Lakers formed a super forward combo with Zhang Hao and Barkley, they still needed someone to pass the ball! One Magician passing the ball, plus a supporting Doug Christie, wasn’t enough!
Then, suddenly, in just one day, the Lakers dominated all sports news headlines! And they kept the momentum going! Never stopping!
Even due to Zhang Hao, American entertainment news was reporting on the Lakers news involving Zhang Hao.
After these signings, the Lakers’ 27 million US dollar salary budget was maxed out. So was the Lakers next step to re-sign Campbell under the cap?
No, that evening, the Lakers gave everyone an answer...
On the night of August 6, 1996, the Lakers and Campbell reached a sign-and-trade agreement of 3 years and 24 million US dollars, sending him to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for former Brooklyn Nets point guard Kenny Anderson, who the 76ers had abandoned after Iverson’s excellent performance in the summer league!
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