This is why the Lakers decided to trade Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille O’Neal was one of, if not the, most dominant player in NBA history. He was traded from the Orlando Magic to the Lakers in 1996 so that the Lakers could win championships once again. And that is what he did. He helped the Purple and Gold to win three championships in seven years with the team.

Despite the success that Shaq gave the Lakers, we were still traded. After the trade, the Lakers went into a drought of almost ten years, meanwhile, Shaq went into the Miami Heat where he won his fourth championship.

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"When Shaq got traded, that was really hard. ... My dad made the decision; he couldn't pay Shaq the money that Shaq could earn under the collective bargaining agreement. And trade was coming up,” explained the Lakers owner Jeanie Buss in an interview for SiriusXM NBA Radio.

The Lakers kept Kobe Bryant who was a great player, young, but with a high ceiling. In the end, the Lakers will go on to win two more championships in back-to-back seasons from 2009 to 2010. If the Lakers could have kept Shaq, they might have ended up winning a couple more championships.

Shaq stats with the Lakers

Shaquille O'Neal averaged 27.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 514 games for the Lakers in his career. He also won three championships, two Finals MVP, one regular season MVP, and one scoring championship.