Every so often, even a quarter-century after the fact, someone will invariably send an email, leave a voicemail or dispatch a tweet blaming me for running Shaquille O’Neal out of town by masterminding the infamous Orlando Sentinel poll.
Of course, I wasn’t even at the Orlando Sentinel at the time and wouldn’t arrive until four years after Shaq had bolted for L.A., but when it comes to the Sentinel’s Shaq poll, the facts have become fuzzy over the years. There are still many longtime Magic fans, team executives and former players who blame the Sentinel for Shaq’s departure and the resulting transformation of the Magic from one of the hottest, hippest organizations in all of pro sports to their current status as an outpost of NBA obscurity.
A new book written by New York Times bestselling author Jeff Pearlman only perpetuates the mythology of the Sentinel poll. The book — titled “Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty” — is a fascinating, well-reported look at how the Shaq-Kobe Lakers came together, but I take umbrage with Pearlman’s portrayal of Orlando as a city and the Sentinel poll’s role in Shaq’s exit.
