Shaq wanted to fight Mitch Kupchak before being traded: ‘I was going to kill that dude’

Big man Shaquille O’Neal’s stint in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform was iconic. Across eight seasons with the storied franchise, he earned seven All-Star appearances, an MVP award and guided the team to three consecutive titles in the early 2000s.

But like all great things, his time as a Laker came to an end eventually. Los Angeles moved O’Neal to the Miami Heat in the summer of 2004, and before he was traded, he saw on ESPN that Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said the team was receptive to offers for the big man. O’Neal wanted to fight Kupchak upon getting wind of the news on television.

“So, it was funny ’cause I was eating Frosted Flakes watching ESPN, listening to what people saying,” O’Neal began. “And then they said, ‘Mitch Kupchak said he will take offers on Shaq.’ So, I told my agent to call him, and they said ‘Hey, you going to want to trade?’ So, I got in my police car and I went there, but they wouldn’t let me in ’cause I was going to f— Mitch up.”

O’Neal was then asked if he had the lights on his police car turned on while he was driving.

“No, but I went down there and actually the cops were waiting for was like, ‘Shaq, we can’t let you in.’ I was like, ‘I’m just going to go get my stuff.’ I was going to f— Mitch Kupchak up. I promise you. I promise you ’cause my thing is I understand the business, but show me a little more respect. Call me and say, ‘Hey man, we had a good run.’ But you do that, I’m sitting there eating Frosted Flakes with little Shareef and he looking at me. I’m looking at him like, ‘Damn, we getting traded?’ I was going to kill that dude.”

In July of 2004, the Lakers traded O’Neal to the Heat in exchange for three players — including forward Lamar Odom — and a future first-round pick. Odom went down as the most important piece of  the return for Los Angeles, as he ended up sticking around with the team for seven seasons. He was an important ancillary piece for the Lakers when they won back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010.

Los Angeles acquired Caron Butler and Brian Grant along with Odom, but neither of those two players stuck around with the team for very long.

The move didn’t age all that well for Los Angeles in the short term, as it marked the end of a dominant era for the squad. The Lakers didn’t make the Finals again until 2008 after they dealt O’Neal to Miami. Plus, it didn’t take long for O’Neal to help Miami to its first championship in franchise history, as the Heat captured the 2006 NBA title.

O’Neal has a valid point in that he probably deserved a heads up from Lakers brass that he was set to be on the way out of Los Angeles and shouldn’t have found out about the team’s intentions on television.

But, he can take solace knowing that things ultimately worked out for him in Miami, as he was one of the top scoring options on the first title team in South Beach.