NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal is regarded as one of the greatest players ever to have played the game of basketball. A force to be reckoned with, Shaq was a seven-foot monster during his playing days. He dominated players inside the paint and would use his physique to get to the basket. Notably, Shaq played for many teams during his illustrious career, but he was mainly known for his time with the Lakers.

Shaq’s career started with the Orlando Magic in 1992; he was the number one overall pick in the 1992 Draft. Before entering the NBA Draft, Shaq played for the Louisiana State University in his college career. During his career, O’Neal won a plethora of trophies and honors, including a two-time All-American, two-time SEC Player of the Year, and received the Adolph Rupp Trophy as NCAA men’s basketball player of the year in 1991.

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During a recent episode of his podcast, “The Big Podcast with Shaq“, he recalled an incident that took place just after he was drafted by Orlando. Shaq said, “When I got drafted… I did not know nothing about housing or nothing..so I was at the airport hotel.. we stayed there me and my family stayed there for 45 days.. the bill was $700,000.”

He continued, “ The bill was $700,000?because cause was me, my father, Ayesha and Jamal… and all we did was we did room service room service room service and my dad would go downstairs see people in the bar and say join us in the room.”?

Orlando Magic and the fight for future

Since Shaq left Orlando, there has been a lack of consistency with the franchise. They have enjoyed some spurts of success in between for some years here and there. But the success has never been consistent. They drafted Dwight Howard as the number one overall pick in 2004. It made them competitive for some years, but after he left, they again struggled.

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Last night during the 2022 NBA Draft, Orlando had the first overall pick. They picked Duke product, Paolo Banchero. It was a surprise pick, as the experts predicted Jabari Smith Jr. as the number one pick.

Along with Paolo, they also have last year’s lottery picks Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner. Not to mention players like Mo Bamba and Wendell Carter Jr. Orlando has a solid young core of players to work with. There is still a lot of work to be done, though, given the Eastern conference is strong as ever right now.