Shaq’s on Target in Debut

Shaquille O’Neal, two shots.

They had slapped each other’s hands, laughed at each other’s silly gestures, smiled and waved and maybe even shivered a bit, but suddenly it was serious.

This first date between Los Angeles and this city’s hot new item Friday night had reached its first moment of truth.

The time was 8:15 p.m.

The words of public-address announcer Lawrence Tanter hung over the 14,149 Forum fans like storm clouds.

Shaquille O’Neal, two shots.

The Lakers’ tallest new employee, in his first appearance in the Forum, was shooting his first free throws.

And everyone knows what happens when Shaquille O’Neal shoots free throws.

It was suddenly so quiet, from courtside you could hear Lisa Leslie’s belly bracelet jingle.

O’Neal smiled that crooked smile, set his arms in that crooked formation . . . and drained it. Aced it. Nailed it.

Both of them.

The man who only made 39% of his free throw during last year’s playoffs for Orlando was two for two for Los Angeles.

It was only an exhibition game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the regular season was two weeks away, none of it counted.

And all of it counted.

Showtime officially became Shaqtime Friday when the Forum was filled with an energy that the building hasn’t experienced since . . .

You guessed it.

“Since Magic Johnson came back from his retirement,” said Julian Flaum.

Mr. Flaum is mentioned here in lieu of any number of veteran Laker watchers for one notable reason.

He is a normal-looking Calabasas insurance executive who put his 7-year-old son in the car and drove through horrendous Friday evening traffic to attend his first exhibition game in more than 20 years as a Laker fan . . . mostly because he wanted to see how O’Neal looked in a Laker uniform.

Just like everyone else in the house.

For those who want to save themselves this trip in the future, here is how O’Neal looks in a Laker uniform:

Like a school bus.

But that rare school bus with a sense of humor.

Flaum and his son were among several hundred fans standing six-deep around the corner of the court before the Lakers made their entrance.

For nearly 30 minutes the fans waited, spilling out onto the court, bumping each other, frustrating a security force still at pre-O’Neal numbers.

The last time this town’s October blood pressure was so high, Kirk Gibson was limping around Chavez Ravine. The crowd was nearly double the average for past Laker exhibitions.

“Look at this,” Flaum said. “This is insane.”

When the Lakers finally appeared, the players held elbows at their sides and ducked as they ran through the man-made tunnel, and none of them seemed to appreciate it.

Except the last player through.

And you know who that was.

O’Neal laughed and let everyone grab his jersey and touch his shoulders . . . and then moments later heaved those shoulders at the completion of his first trip to the basket in his first Forum layup line.

Yup. He dunked it.

That the dunk was performed behind his head was surely coincidence.

“Hey, this is Hollywood,” said Jerry West, Laker vice president. “This is Shaquille’s kind of place.”

Not that this will be eight months of yuks. Just ask the folks in Orlando.

O’Neal must prove he can win big games. He must prove he can be a team player during hard times. And he must drain, ace and nail more than one out of every three free throws.

He has size-22 shoes that Chick Hearn recently weighed at six pounds, so he will step in things. Messes will be made.

There will be off-court problems, particularly for a guy who makes $121 million and loves the league’s most tantalizing off-court.

But for now, for at least a couple of months, there will be fun.

And it’s about time somebody in this town has some fun, isn’t it?

“It makes me wonder if this will help be the start of some changes around Southern California,” said Leslie, the Olympic hero and former USC star.

“With Shaquille, we’re talking about not just a hero, but a role model for all these kids,” she said. “We don’t have enough male sports role models in this town. Just look at the excitement here. Things are changing.”

For one, the Forum backboards are now officially in danger.

O’Neal nearly brought each of them down on three occasions with dunks that brought the crowd to their feet in as much shock as excitement.

He even made two of them.

In football, they have hang time. The Lakers should begin calculating vibe time, based on the number of seconds a backboard support shakes after his dunks.

Midway through the third period, O’Neal threw an alley-oop pass into the hands of a spectator.

What followed was a familiar Forum sound, but with an unfamiliar meaning.

The fans weren’t booing.

The fans were ooohing.

There is a difference.

* LAKERS BREEZE AT FORUM

There was plenty of hype surrounding Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, but not much of a game, which turned into a 113-92 romp over the Philadelphia 76ers. The Lakers will play the Phoenix Suns tonight. C8