Conspiracy Theories

Oh, this again.

Shaquille O’Neal and the NBA All-Star game come together anew, either a joining of interests in taking over the world, starting with basketball and expanding outward from there to the global economy, or a collision. Given that both sides are titans--the 7-foot-1, 320-pound Laker center and The System--wreckage is inevitable.

O’Neal is angered by the aggressive, very non-all-star defense he faces. He swears revenge. O’Neal is bothered by not winning the game’s most-valuable-player award. He vows redemption. O’Neal is frustrated another center gets more playing time. He takes a blood oath to even the ledger.

And so on.

Now comes New York. It’s next door to his New Jersey roots, but still far from wherever he’d rather be if not for the appreciation of being sent by fans.

“I think he’s dealing with it a lot better than if it was in Afghanistan,” said Eddie Jones, one of the four Lakers on the Western Conference team for today’s game in Madison Square Garden.

Or at least a little better. For starters, O’Neal was absent from Friday’s mandatory media session, earning a $10,000 fine.

It has practically become an annual occurrence. He arrives a fan favorite, having been voted into the starting lineup, and leaves in disappointment or frustration. Except last season, when he didn’t even have to show to get ripped.

“I guess that certain people don’t want to see me have it easy,” O’Neal said. “That’s OK.”

Of course, it usually isn’t OK.

SALT LAKE CITY, 1993

O’Neal starts for the Eastern Conference, 25 minutes, 14 points, seven rebounds.

At the time, the 20-year-old center with the Orlando Magic was only the 14th rookie to make the all-star starting lineup and the first since Michael Jordan in ’85. That was all pretty grand until East Coach Pat Riley played his Knick center, Patrick Ewing, the same 25 minutes off the bench.

“Riley was mad because I used to average 40 on Ewing, so he wanted to, you know,” O’Neal said. “That was cool.

“When somebody pushes you, you just got to push them back.”

He put Ewing at the top of the list of shovees. And when Riley moved to the Miami Heat, Alonzo Mourning, no favorite to begin with, got a priority spot.

In the 14 games since then, O’Neal averaged 27.8 points and 11.3 rebounds against the Knicks. Since Riley joined with Mourning, O’Neal averaged 30 points and 13 rebounds in four meetings.

“I would kill Pat,” O’Neal said. “I would just take it out on Ewing. And I still do, to this day. . . . I take it out on Ewing, and I take it out on Mourning. Every time.”

Because of Riley?

“Uh huh.”

MINNEAPOLIS, 1994

O’Neal starts for the Eastern Conference, 26 minutes, eight points on two-of-12 shooting, 10 rebounds.

“George Karl and his boys tried to triple-team,” O’Neal said.

Tried to?

Western Conference defenders came at him in waves, then denied they were sent by Karl, the SuperSonics’ coach, or were trying to put the kid in his place on their own. As if O’Neal believed that.

“That’s OK,” he said. “We still won the game, still got more money. That was fine.

“I was kind of upset. But I just said to myself, ‘Whenever we play them, I’m going to kill them.’ And I did. And I always do.

“I just remembered, and then when we played them, I killed them. Killed them all: David [Robinson], [Shawn] Kemp, Hakeem [Olajuwon]. Just killed them all. Gave them all 40.”

Or close to it, starting with Seattle. As fate would have it, the SuperSonics went to Orlando in the second game after the all-star break, and O’Neal rolled up 38 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks. He remembers Magic Coach Brian Hill wanting to remove him when the outcome was decided--and telling Hill no thanks.

O’Neal has faced the SuperSonics eight times since then, averaging 29.3 points and 12.6 rebounds.

PHOENIX, 1995

O’Neal starts for the Eastern Conference, 26 minutes, 22 points on nine-of-16 shooting, seven rebounds.

The payback.

“He was not going to let what happened last year happen again,” Penny Hardaway, a teammate on the East and the Magic, said at the time. “He went out and had more fun.”

When he was left alone midway through the third quarter, his team down big, he figured what the heck and launched a three-point shot. Airball.

O’Neal then: “I’m just glad somebody gave me a chance to play. Last year, I didn’t get a chance to show my stuff. This year, I did.”

O’Neal now: “I just wanted to come and play. But, again, I think there was a lot of politics involved.”

Because Mitch Richmond, from the victorious West squad, was named most valuable player after scoring 23 points.

SAN ANTONIO, 1996

O’Neal starts for the Eastern Conference, 28 minutes, 25 points, 10 rebounds.

Speaking of all-star MVP letdowns. . . .

Jordan had 20 points in 22 minutes and won the award, 4-3, in a vote by a media panel. O’Neal, who went to high school in San Antonio, had the three.

“I was hitting fadeaways, hitting jumpers, taking it to the hole, dunking,” he said. “I thought I had it. Then they pulled the he-hasn’t-been-here-long-enough thing on me. That’s cool. That’s fine.”

O’Neal said he wasn’t disappointed.

“Surprised, a little bit,” he said.

“There was a lot of politics involved. They voted like at the end of the third quarter and the guy from Denver [Mike Monroe of the Denver Post] didn’t vote for me because I left [the media session] early and he didn’t get a chance to talk to me. Well, Mike [Jordan] didn’t even go to the thing at all. So I’m not going ever again.”

In truth, voting took place near the end of the fourth quarter, not the third, and Monroe said it had nothing to do with O’Neal skipping the Friday interviews.

As it happened, the Magic’s first game after the all-star break was against the Nuggets. Monroe got to the game early, waited at O’Neal’s locker, then introduced himself. O’Neal stared back. Monroe explained he voted for Jordan because most of Jordan’s points came while the eventual East victory was still in doubt.

“It’s cool, bro,” O’Neal said.

CLEVELAND, 1997

O’Neal was a reserve for the Western Conference but was unable to play because of a knee injury.

The real trouble started when O’Neal was told to remain in Los Angeles to rest the knee. In Cleveland, that quickly got twisted into O’Neal snubbing the weekend that included celebrations to honor the 50 greatest players in league history, making him and Jerry West the only living members of the select group not to attend.

Some reported that O’Neal really went to Orlando.

No, he was spotted walking around at the San Diego Zoo.

Maybe he really was home, following orders from doctors and the Lakers? Naaaah. What a silly rumor that was.

He was still considering the fallout a year later, when the strained abdominal muscle was bothersome enough that O’Neal considered skipping again.

“If I can do that and not receive any flak, that would be nice,” O’Neal said. “Last year, I was ordered to stay away from the All-Star game, did it, and got flak.”

NEW YORK, 1998

O’Neal is a Western Conference starter.

On a scale of one to 10, 10 being highest, O’Neal’s skipping the media session on Friday rated about a minus-three.

Planning ahead, he asked an NBA official weeks ago how big the fine would be for bailing. He showed up for the meeting for all players participating in events during the weekend, about 30 minutes beforehand. Then he took a pass. On cue.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

All-Star Game Facts

WHEN: Today

WHERE:

Madison Square Garden, New York

TIME: 3 p.m.

TV: Channel 4.

RADIO: XTRA (690)

LAKER PARTICIPANTS: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel.

COVERAGE

Michael Jordan missed practice with a fever and his status for today’s game is unknown...Clipper Maurice Taylor scores 12 points in the rookie game. C8

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Shaquille O’Neal in All-Star Games

How Shaquille O’Neal has fared in his All-Star Game appearances. He was also selected in 1997 to represent Lakers, but did not play because of injury:

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Year Team Min Reb FT FG Pts Blk 1993 Orlando 25 7 6-9 4-9 14 0 1994 Orlando 26 10 4-11 2-12 8 4 1995 Orlando 26 7 4-7 9-16 22 2 1996 Orlando 28 10 5-11 10-16 25 2

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