Chapter 314: Chapter 261: O’Neal: I Need Respect

Phoenix, Chen-Hill Memorial Clinic.

On the afternoon of June 25th, a van arrived outside the clinic and was stopped.

The door slid open, and a giant was the first to emerge.

"Fuck, it’s O’Neal!"

A reporter cried out in shock from nearby.

Because Chen Yu’s clinic regularly treated a large number of superstars, there were always reporters staked out front.

A lot of news breaks originated from here.

O’Neal’s appearance captured the attention of every reporter.

With the NBA Draft and the opening of the free agent market approaching, O’Neal’s movements were drawing everyone’s attention.

A dozen or so reporters swarmed over, surrounding O’Neal.

"Shaq, have you finalized your contract extension with the Lakers? Are you really going to leave Los Angeles?"

"Shaq, why did you come to Phoenix?"

All sorts of questions were hurled at him.

O’Neal, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, grinned and pointed at Perry Rogers, who was following behind him, signaling for the reporters to talk to him. Then he pushed through the crowd and headed for the clinic’s entrance.

Perry Rogers was surrounded. He waved his hand for the reporters to quiet down, then said with a smile, "Sorry, we can’t answer any questions right now."

With that, he pushed past the reporters and followed O’Neal.

The reporters were furious. ’One told them to ask the guy behind him, and the other said he couldn’t answer any questions. They should’ve just said so from the start!’ By the time they thought to turn back and block O’Neal, he was already inside the clinic.

Still, O’Neal showing up in Phoenix was a huge story in itself.

"Is he really coming to the Suns?"

"What do you think? He’s here in person. It’s gotta be happening."

"If the Lakers and O’Neal had already reached an agreement to extend, they definitely would have announced it by now. The fact that there’s been no news can only mean the two sides are still at odds."

"The draft is only a day away. I wonder if they can get a trade done during the draft."

"Probably not. I think the Suns will make their pick first to maintain leverage. The real trade won’t happen until after the market opens."

"It’s not just the Suns anymore. The moment O’Neal hinted he wanted out, a lot of other teams jumped in to pursue him, like the Heat, the Rockets, and the Celtics. In previous years, the trade rumors would be flying like crazy by now. This time, there’s been complete silence. Everyone’s waiting for O’Neal to make his decision."

The crowd of reporters could only watch helplessly as O’Neal disappeared, their discussions continuing unabated.

Meanwhile, O’Neal and Rogers were walking along the driveway toward the medical center.

"The environment isn’t bad," O’Neal muttered.

Rogers, walking beside him, hesitated for a moment before saying, "Shaq, don’t you think what you’re doing is a bit... aggressive?"

He thought for a moment, choosing his adjective carefully.

Originally, O’Neal had no plans to come to Phoenix.

Even if he had, he wouldn’t have shown his face outside the clinic; he would have just had the van drive straight in.

Coming to Phoenix, getting out of the van early, and letting the reporters see him—it was all O’Neal’s idea.

The purpose, naturally, was to send a message to the Lakers management: ’Look, I’m already in Phoenix. You’d better make a decision, and fast.’

But Rogers felt that forcing the Lakers management’s hand like this was too proactive, too aggressive. It could lead to unpredictable consequences.

O’Neal pursed his lips but said nothing.

Rogers continued, "Shaq, are you sure you want to leave the Lakers?"

Ever since he revealed his desire to leave the Lakers after the Western Conference Finals, O’Neal’s attitude had been ambiguous. Even Rogers, his own agent, didn’t know what was truly on his mind.

After much discussion, the Lakers had eventually offered a three-year, $88 million contract extension, a deal that Rogers considered very sincere.

The salary in the final year would reach $30 million, comparable to what Jordan made.

But O’Neal hadn’t agreed, and instead kept dragging his feet.

"Perry, you still don’t get it?" O’Neal pursed his lips. "I don’t care how big the contract is. I need respect. Do you understand what respect means?"

’What did the Lakers management do after I deliberately let it slip that I wanted to leave?’

’Not a single person came out right away to declare that O’Neal was the hero of our two consecutive championships, the leader of our team, an untouchable asset.’

’Especially Old Bass. He still hasn’t made a clear statement.’

’All they did was repeatedly deny the possibility of a trade and say that extension talks were ongoing.’

O’Neal felt it wasn’t enough.

’The contract and all that wasn’t his priority. With his skills, where couldn’t he get a max contract?’

’I came to the Lakers, worked my ass off, and helped them win two championships. And what’s the result? You people indulge that young punk Kobe and let him try to snatch the team leader position.’

’It’s not that I care about being the team leader, but you can’t just take it from me!’

’And Kobe... that kid is probably thrilled, isn’t he?’

’After the news broke, what was his attitude? Did he come out right away and say, ’O’Neal is our leader, we can’t lose him’?’

’No. He even ran off to Hawaii for a vacation.’

’Isn’t that the same as refusing to take a stand, implicitly allowing the Lakers management to trade me?’

’He’s hoping I get traded!’

’Last week, when reporters cornered him, Kobe said he was going to train specially this summer to get stronger and take on more responsibility for the team.’

’What’s that supposed to mean? You might as well just come out and say, ’I want to be the team leader.’’

’And when he was asked what he thought about my potential trade, what did Kobe say? He said it was management’s business and that he didn’t care.’

’A fine ’I don’t care.’ Who was it that carried you to a championship? Without me, could you have made the All-Star team? Could you have won a championship?’

’Now that you’ve gotten too big for your britches, you don’t even respect me anymore!’

These were the things O’Neal cared about most.

After the Western Conference Finals, O’Neal’s initial plan was to deliberately leak that he wanted a trade, that he wanted to go to the Suns, just to give the Lakers management a scare.

Then, everyone would come begging him to stay, telling him, "You can’t leave, we need you."

O’Neal wanted everyone to coax him, to make them all understand: ’You can’t survive without me.’

But the result... was this.

This gap between expectation and reality left O’Neal completely disheartened. He felt he hadn’t received the respect he deserved in Los Angeles, and he was filled with the rage of someone who felt he’d been used and was now being carelessly discarded.

So at this critical moment, O’Neal decided to come to Phoenix to make one final statement to the Lakers management, to tell them, ’I’m dead serious!’

However, O’Neal didn’t reveal these thoughts to Rogers. He just complained, a bit sullenly, "Perry, are you sure you contacted the clinic in advance? How come no one’s here to greet me?"

’I’ve been walking for ages.’

’Is this how they treat a VIP guest?’

O’Neal knew that Chen Yu wasn’t in the United States right now, but he knew Lexi well too.

Just as he was thinking this, a shuttle cart drove up from ahead.

"Shaq!"

From the passenger seat, still a long way off, Lexi was waving at him.

O’Neal let out a soft snort, a smile appearing on his face. ’Now that’s more like it.’

Then, O’Neal saw who was driving.

Fuck, it was Jordan!

Jordan was driving the shuttle. He slammed on the brakes, coming to a stylish stop in front of O’Neal. He looked O’Neal up and down, his nonchalant gaze seeming to say, ’So you’re here too?’

Lexi got out, went up and gave O’Neal a hug, saying with some surprise, "Shaq, didn’t you say you were arriving at three in the afternoon?"

"I didn’t go to the hotel, I came straight here," O’Neal explained, then quickly greeted Jordan.

In front of Jordan, he didn’t dare put on any airs.

Jordan gave a slight nod in response, then said to Lexi, "We’ve got him. Let’s hurry back. I have a lot of ideas I want to discuss with you."

Lexi silently rolled her eyes and gestured for O’Neal to get in the cart.

O’Neal was awkwardly about to climb into the cart when he suddenly felt a sharp gaze on him. He turned his head and saw Jordan glaring at him.

"Uh, I’ll drive," O’Neal reacted quickly and said in a hurry.

Only then did Jordan get out swaggeringly and sit in the back.

O’Neal didn’t dare say another word. He obediently got in the driver’s seat and, under Jordan’s direction, drove to the court behind the medical center.

It turned out Jordan had been discussing with Lexi his idea to clear out an area near the court and build a baseball field.

At his age, he preferred playing baseball and golf to basketball. If the clinic’s grounds weren’t too small, he would have asked Lexi to build him a golf course.

"Michael, I’ve already told you, I have no objection. As long as Chen agrees, it’s fine," Lexi said with a beaming smile.

Jordan’s eyes widened. "You’re his fiancée. If you agree, that’s the same as him agreeing."

Lexi just kept smiling warmly, neither nodding nor shaking her head.

Jordan pursed his lips. "I’ll just call Chen later."

With that, he looked over at O’Neal. "What are you here for?"

O’Neal quickly pointed to his right foot. "I have a problem with my toe. I’m here for treatment."

He had already planned to come to Chen Yu’s place during the summer to deal with his toe issue; he had just moved the appointment up.

Jordan reached out, patted him on the shoulder, and walked away with a slight shake of his head.

He knew about the whole mess with O’Neal wanting a trade. Now, seeing O’Neal in person, Jordan really wanted to tell him, ’You’re not fit to be a team leader.’

’A team leader getting pushed around by a young kid, to the point where he’s stirring up trouble trying to get traded away... in Jordan’s mind, it was utterly disgraceful.’

’If it were him, no question about it, he’d just beat the crap out of the guy, just like he did to Cole back in the day.’

’He’d use his fists to tell Kobe, to tell everyone on the Lakers, that he was the damn leader of the team. Since you came here to ride my coattails, you’d better fall in line.’

But at his age, he didn’t want to get involved in that kind of mess, so in the end, he said nothing.

O’Neal watched Jordan walk away, his mind racing. He whispered to Rogers next to him, "Did he just shake his head?"

Rogers nodded.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" O’Neal looked completely baffled.

Rogers shook his head, thinking to himself, ’Who the hell knows what Jordan meant by that.’

Up ahead, Jordan started complaining loudly again, "And Chen, too. The National Team is already back. What is he still doing overseas? Why isn’t he hurrying back? He’s made me wait for almost a month."

Lexi, still smiling, said, "Michael, why don’t you call Chen and tell him to come back?"

"I’m not calling him." Jordan shrugged. ’As if calling would do any good. That guy never listens to me anyway.’

Behind them, O’Neal blinked. ’At this clinic, even Jordan gets put in his place. Maybe I should tone it down a bit too.’