Shaq still had two more full years to play with the Lakers at that point, so many could not understand why he would push so far for an extension. Shaq made it clear that accepting less money was not an option at that time. The bad news for him is that he actually did take less money, but that all changed when he was moved to the Miami Heat.
Guaranteed money meant more to Shaq than staying on the Lakers because he felt that was the only option. In the meantime, Karl Malone is left wondering what would have happened to the team barring that injury. Like most things, it is never a good thing to sit around that wonder what “might have been.”
It made sense that Shaq leave the team anyway, accept more money and get in line to win an NBA Championship with the Heat. Karl Malone might not think that his knee injury was that important, but according to sources Shaq is blaming it.