At the time, they had a dedicated phone line at the arena leading to the draft venue, and Pat Williams had to call ahead and announce the team’s pick in front of all the screaming fans.
But somehow, there was a malfunction with the phone connection, and the call couldn’t go through.
The draft was getting closer, and time was running short. The management was sweating in anxiety.
In the end, it was the public relations director, Alex Martins, who used his cellphone to call Stern, stating that they chose Shaquille O’Neal.
When Stern announced the result, all of Orlando went wild. That’s the charm of being the first overall pick.
When I flew from Portland to Orlando, the scene was absolutely crazy.
I could hardly believe I was greeted with such a warm welcome as soon as I got off the plane.
The airport terminal was packed with people, and the Magic mascot was present.
There was a Dixie band playing, and on both sides were the most beautiful cheerleaders I’ve ever seen.
There were banners welcoming me to Orlando, which read ’Shaquille is number one.’
Another one read, ’Shaquille, it’s time to end Ah Gan’s reign!’
The banner startled me, and I glanced at Pat Williams beside me.
Williams said, "We always have to set some grand visions."
"Besides, Ah Gan is a very forgiving person; he won’t mind," he added.
At that time, Ah Gan truly dominated the league, his shadow everywhere.
Ever since I decided to enter the NBA, comparisons between me and him never stopped.
I know Ah Gan is unparalleled; he might be the most perfect player in history.
And me? Back then, I was very insecure. I didn’t even believe I could be the number one pick.
I thought Reiner and Mourning were more likely to be selected first than me.
At that time, Reiner had it all: jump shots, footwork, rebounding, psychological edge.
Many considered him Ah Gan’s successor. They were indeed quite alike (later on, I realized how vast their differences were, a world apart externally and internally).
As my career was about to take off, I still couldn’t be 100% sure about my abilities.
After the draft, Mourning was second, and Reiner was third.
I thought they must have made a mistake.
Yes, I was more insecure than I appeared.
Thankfully, scouts and advertisers saw it differently; they valued me.
Just after becoming the first pick, I signed a series of endorsements:
PepsiCo, 13 million US Dollars.
Reebok, 15 million US Dollars.
Kenna, 20 million US Dollars.
Spalding, 25 million US Dollars.
Leonard was smart, placing me amidst the competition between Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola, Reebok and Nike.
This maximized my interests.
Actually, the one I most wanted to sign with was Avia; I always wore Ah Gan’s Skyscraper.
It was the shoe that best suited big guys; I would buy each generation of them.
But Avia didn’t extend a signing invitation to me. It’s said they didn’t want to anger Ah Gan.
They already had Ah Gan; they didn’t need someone looking to challenge him.
But years later, I realized that was nonsense; Ah Gan wouldn’t be so petty.
Avia didn’t approach me just for strategic reasons, that’s all.
I visited Reebok and Nike; honestly, there’s no big difference between the two.
However, when I went to the Nike headquarters, I wore a T-shirt with the Reebok logo.
Leonard told me to take it off, saying it would anger Phil Knight, and he would go mad.
Alright, if they get angry, let them be angry. I chose Reebok.
That summer, I decided to go to Los Angeles to improve myself. Many players would go to Los Angeles for training.
I met Olajuwon at the gym, who was caught in trade rumors, and we competed against each other.
He was a really good person, possessing amazing skills and flexibility.
That year, he was advancing towards his peak, and soon we would be competing in Florida State.
Exactly where Ah Gan was training in some small gym, no one knew.
During the Summer Olympics, he performed exceptionally, leading the weak China Team to the finals.
In the inevitable matchup against the Dream Team, his play was epic, truly astonishing.
I wanted to find him, but Leonard said that was impossible, saying meeting Ah Gan too early wasn’t a good thing.
Then Leonard managed to get me tickets to Magic Johnson’s games; after retiring, he often held small games at UCLA.
Magic was very nice to me; actually, we had a good chat.
He gave me some advice, though I didn’t play very aggressively.
Because I didn’t want to expose all my moves in such small games.
Besides basketball, I had a great time in Los Angeles, participating in various activities; the city was indeed diverse.
I became hot in Los Angeles; I kept running into Arsenio Hall, who was hosting a hot talk show.
He invited me on his show, I said, "If I’m going on the show, I need to do something special. I don’t want to be like other athletes, just gossiping about teams."
The lives of most athletes are extremely dull and boring: training, playing, training, playing.
I’m different; I like life off the court, I want to enjoy my life.
Hall said, "So what ideas do you have?"
I thought for a moment and said, "Maybe... I could try releasing an album? Rap, I could be the best rapper among basketball players!"
At that time, I said it casually, but I didn’t expect it to come true later.