Shaquille O'Neal and Gary Payton teamed up twice in their careers: in Los Angeles and in Miami. According to Shaq, he wanted to link up with the guard given how tough it was to win a ring in their era with Michael Jordan on top of the food chain.
"I don't want you on that list," Shaq said on The Big Podcast. "You shouldn't be on that list. We had a tough era. You gotta go through Mike. We had to go through a lot of people. Gary, they made it one time and went up against Mike. I didn't want him to be on that list. So I'm like, you know what, you need to come out here with me. I'm gonna get you one because I know I needed a tough point guard."
Shaq and the Orlando Magic made it to the 1994 NBA Finals. This was the year when Jordan just came back from his first retirement, and so the Magic managed to boot out the Chicago Bulls in six games.
The following year, the Magic made it to the Eastern Conference Finals once again, but this time, Jordan and the Bulls were stronger than ever. The Magic got eliminated in four games.
For his part, Payton guided the Seattle Supersonics to the 1996 NBA Finals. As etched in history, they got beaten by Jordan's Bulls in six games.
Once Shaq moved to Los Angeles, he won three straight titles with the great Kobe Bryant. Meanwhile, Payton - nearing the tail-end of his career - had yet to win a title. He was close to being one of the greats to retire without a ring.
And so Shaq called him up to join the dynasty in LA. Together with Karl Malone, they made it to the NBA Finals and were heavily expected to win it all. Unfortunately, there was so much drama surrounding the powerhouse squad that they were ousted by the Detroit Pistons in just five games.
Their second and final team-up came at South Beach. This time, they were successful in their quest. Guided by the brilliance of a young Dwyane Wade, Payton won his first NBA Championship while Shaq got his fourth. And so the Big Diesel finally succeeded in his mission of giving Payton the ring he deserves.