Orlando Sentinel poll gave Shaq excuse to leave Magic

Twenty years ago, Rex Hoggard was only 27 and had been working in the Orlando Sentinel sports department for just a few months. Little did he know he was walking into a thunderstorm involving the city's basketball icon.

"I felt like public enemy No. 1," Hoggard said.

Hoggard was assigned to write a story on the results of a Sentinel Sound-Off poll. As part of the feature, editors posed a provocative question for readers, who could call into an answering machine – hey, it was 1996 – to vote "yes" or "no" and also leave their opinion.

The question posed on the Sentinel's front page on Tuesday, July 16, would later rock the world of the Orlando Magic and their fans:

Is Shaquille O'Neal worth $115…