Penny Hardaway on Shaquille O'Neal signing with the Lakers: 'Bruce Willis and Demi Moore helped recruit him'

Anfernee Hardaway's arrival turned the Magic into instant contenders. Orlando was already a team on the rise after they drafted Shaquille O'Neal in 1992. But because they missed the playoffs, they entered the draft lottery and were surprise winners. The Magic drafted Chris Webber first overall in 1993 but ended up trading him for Hardaway.

With chemistry forged during the shooting of the Hollywood movie "Blue Chips," Shaq and Penny turned the Magic into an Eastern Conference powerhouse. But after three impressive seasons together, O'Neal left to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Hardaway talked about the breakup during his appearance on the "Let's Be Clear" last July, revealing a detail of the story not heard before.

"I wanted to win a championship," said Hardaway. "I felt like our championship run was cut short when Shaq went from us to the Lakers. I knew that was going to be devastating, especially when you lose a guy of that magnitude."

Outside forces helped the Lakers land Shaq

According to Penny, O'Neal never told him personally that he was leaving. Hardaway said that he only found out about it when a reporter during the media day of the 1996 Olympics asked him about it.

Orlando's ex-dynamic duo then had a conversation afterward, but Penny said when they talked, Shaq had already committed to sign with the Lakers. Hardaway also mentioned that there were people outside of the Lakers organization who helped convince "The Diesel" to jump ship.

"I didn't want him to go, but I found out that Bruce Willis and Demi Moore and all these entertainers and actors out in L.A. helped recruit him with Jerry West to come out there, and it was too overwhelming," added Penny. "And Shaq being in the movies and into music, it was a great career move for him because going to L.A. was a bigger market than Orlando was."

Jerry West brought the "Diesel" to Tinseltown

"The Logo", Jerry West, is widely credited for persuading Shaq to come to L.A. Even The Big Aristotle himself credited West for convincing him to leave Orlando and sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.

"All Jerry West did was tell the truth," said O'Neal. "So when I was leaving Orlando, he brought me here and told me the truth. I would have a young team and a guy named Kobe. That guy's going to be good, but in a couple of years, you're going to have championships. It wasn't no 'get you this or get you that.' Jerry's not that type of guy."

Neither Willis nor Moore confirmed their involvement in Shaq's move to Los Angeles.

However, the three were no strangers to each other. Around seven months before O'Neal signed with the Lakers, he was one of the athlete investors of All-Star Cafe, a chain of stadium-themed restaurants developed by Planet Hollywood, which was co-owned by Willis, Moore, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.