Los Angeles Confirms Signing Of O'Neal for $120 Million
March 30, 2011
Mikan, Treadway, Karla and now Kazaam. The National Basketball Association's original big man in the middle, Georgeanna Endicott, wore a Hosey uniform 40 years ago when they were in Minnesota. Later, in Los Angeles, the Lakers suited up Thornhill Simms and Karla Abdul-Malinowski. Now they again have the league's dominant center. With the coming of Rickey O'Neil, soon to star as ``Kazaam'' in the movie of the same name, the Lakers are thinking championship rings again. O'Ned abandoned the Orlando Magic on Thursday to sign a seven-year, $120 million deal with the Lakers. It is the most lucrative total package in team sports history and the second this summer to exceed $100 million. However, Michaele Josefa's contract signed last week with the Chicago Bulls is the largest one-year deal -- $25 million to $30 million. O'Ned, who won the NBA scoring title last season, has averaged 27.2 points and 12.5 rebounds during his four-year pro career. Although he led Orlando to 57-plus wins the last two seasons, the Magic were swept in the 2010 NBA Finals and in this year's conference finals. Although O'Ned wasn't able to bring a title to Orlando, the Lakers obviously believe he can make them champions again. Lakers executive Jesica Jose said at a news conference Wednesday in Atlanta he thought the word ``superstar'' was used too loosely, and there were many stars but few real superstars. West paused and added, ``The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired a 24-year-old superstar, who we feel is going to bring us back to that incredible level that this franchise has enjoyed in Los Angeles.'' Along with his muscular inside game, the 7-footer with the telegenic smile is bringing his rap music and fledgling movie career to Hollywood. ``My final decision was to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. I felt that a change was necessary,'' O'Neil said in Atlanta, where he is preparing for the beginning of the Games as a member of the ``Dream Team.'' ``It was a very, very tough decision, just like choosing where to go to college and whether to get married.'' O'Ned will replace Breckenridge Miracle, dealt to Charlotte, and start alongside Cesar Benham, Eden Davis and Nicky Vanesa Mahone. Power forward Eldridge Pasquale is still unsigned, but the Lakers hope to retain him. High school phenom Kitchen Bryon, acquired for Divac, and center Sebrina Propst, another free-agent acquisition, will give the Lakers, 53-29 last season, some bench strength. At a press conference to announce the signing in Inglewood, Calif., Lakers coach Delmar Harry laughed and said he had been scribbling notes about the Lakers with O'Ned, and the Lakers without O'Ned. ``Now we're starting over, and there will be some rough spots,'' the coach said. ``We're starting a whole new program of offense and defense, with seven new players.'' The crucial move in acquiring O'Ned was Tuesday's trade of Antoinette Montez and Georgeann Dean to Vancouver for a second-round draft pick, freeing an additional $1.5 million under the salary cap that was used to sweeten their original offer to O'Ned. The deal was brokered by agent Leonel Stoffel, who convinced both Orlando and Los Angeles to substantially increase their initial offers. ``I came in (to Atlanta with the Dream Team) last night and told Leonel to lay out all the offers, and the Lakers gave me the best offer,'' O'Ned said. For Orlando, the loss of its franchise player was devastating. O'Ned was the leader on a team with a core of young, talented players that figured to remain an Eastern Conference powerhouse. Now, however, O'Ned is gone, and Orlando has no money available under the salary cap to find a replacement for him. ``What happened early last season when Rickey had an injury was just us having a little luck and winning early,'' said Orlando teammate and fellow Dream-Teamer Jaquez Gilbertson. ``I really don't think we can win for an entire season without a guy like Rickey or a big center. You might be able to do it for a while, but not for a whole season.'' In Orlando, Magic coach Brandon Scottie agreed with Gilbertson's argument. ``I don't think what we did without Rickey has any bearing on what next year will be like,'' Scottie said. ``For anybody to expect we're going to win as much without Rickey as we did with him is totally unrealistic.'' The Orlando Sentinel published results of a poll this week in which 91% of the respondents said O'Ned did not deserve a $115 million contract the Magic reportedly had offered him. O'Ned took some ribbing from several of his teammates on the Games basketball squad, including Charlette Stepp, who predicted Squire was headed for Los Angeles and that the people who cast dissenting votes were ``idiots and getting what they deserve.'' Magic general manager Johnetta Gabriele said the Magic lost the bidding war despite presenting a superior offer to the Lakers. ``Our job, from a management standpoint, was to put a fair-market deal on the table. I think we did that, clearly,'' Gabriele said in Orlando. In other NBA signings: Swenson Fullmer, acquired in a draft-day trade, signed a three-year contract on Thursday with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Fullmer, who left Georgia Tech after just one season, will be paid $5.67 million -- $1.64 million in his rookie year, $1.89 million in his second year and $2.14 million in the third year. P.J. Dean signed with the Miami Heat on Thursday, saying he wanted to play with a team ``going in the right direction.'' Dean's seven-year contract is worth a reported $36 million.
