Though Salley's performances somewhat improved over the following three EuroLeague outings—10 points in a home loss versus ASVEL, 9 points and 11 rebounds in a blowout home win versus KK Split, and 21 points and 8 rebounds in a win away at minnows Bayer Leverkusen—as he seemingly showed signs of adjustment to FIBA basketball rules and European referees by managing to stay out of foul trouble, he continued to butt heads with coach Maljković. After flying back to Athens with the team the morning after the Leverkusen game, Salley refused to go to practice and as a result, got dropped by Maljković for their Greek League game the following day. The player then flew back to the United States for meetings with TV executives over a new talk show he had been planning to host for Disney, returning to Athens an hour before the club's Greek Cup game versus P.A.O.K. on October 22, 1996—a trip that included Salley renting a private Lear jet in Paris for US$20,000 out of his own pocket in order to make it back to Athens in time for the game after having his connecting flight delayed and then even renting a helicopter once he landed at Athens' Ellinikon Airport to take him right to Panathinaikos' OACA Hall in the city's Marousi neighbourhood. However, Maljković still refused to include him in the lineup and in response, Salley decided to leave Panathinaikos unilaterally two days later on October 24, 1996, after only a month at the club. Salley appeared in seven games for Panathinaikos and ended up getting paid about €300,000. Los Angeles Lakers In 1999, Salley joined a Lakers team led by superstars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant and also reunited with his former Bulls coach, Phil Jackson. He saw little action for the Lakers en route to their first of three consecutive NBA championships, primarily serving as O'Neal's backup. In 2000, he retired again following the first Lakers championship season after proudly proclaiming that he had won "four championship rings, with three different teams, in three different decades and two different millenniums". 14 years later, Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs became the second player to achieve this (sans the requirement of different teams) by leading his Spurs to five championships between 1999 and 2014. Post-basketball activities Film In 1995, John Salley had a role in Bad Boys as a thick-glassed computer hacking nerd