Thaindian News

Los Angeles, Nov 8 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Shaquille O’Neal’s new book reveals his private opinion about several NBA players and executives. The former Lakers star directed most of his criticism at Mitch Kupchak who is the General Manager of the Lakers.

O’Neal revealed in the book that he had an informal agreement with Kupchak not to publicly discuss his contract extension at the end of the 2003-04 NBA season. The book said Kupchak did not respect those words and discussed the issue after the season.

O’Neal wrote in his book that, “That was the end of me in a Lakers uniform. Mitch broke our agreement… I kept waiting for Mitch to come to me and say, ‘Shaq, you’re getting older, we need some new players… So that was when I demanded a trade. I couldn’t trust Mitch anymore and it was clear Kobe was now the one with all the power.”

O’Neal said he felt out of the water at the Lakers when Jerry West was replaced as the General Manager at the franchise after the 1999-2000 NBA season. He admitted that he never trusted Kupchak when he took the office. O’Neal wrote that Kupchak was only interested in pleasing the club owner Jerry Buss and himself(Kupchak) when he replaced West.

O’Neal’s book, titled “Shaq Uncut: My Story,” will be available at the bookstores from the 15th of November.