Shaq Needs to Be the Centerpiece

We all know which company spent big money to plaster its name all over L.A.’s new sports palace.

The real ownership is up for grabs. Whose house will it be?

When they close Staples Center to make way for the next arena--nothing but luxury boxes--which player will we associate with the old relic on Figueroa?

It needs to be Shaquille O’Neal.

For the immediate health of the Lakers, for their hopes to eventually win a championship, for the arena to have a star attraction to keep the fans coming after the novelty of the new building wears off, Staples Center must become Shaq’s Shack.

In Shaq’s first season with the Lakers he used to say his goal was to put his name on both sides of the Forum, meaning a retired jersey on the northern wall and a championship banner on the southern wall.

He couldn’t deliver the banner in time and the Lakers didn’t stick around the Forum long enough for his jersey to be raised to its rafters. So now it’s on to the new digs.

Staples Center is devoid of history. O’Neal doesn’t have to jostle in the pivot with the legacies of Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the way he did at the Forum.

O’Neal isn’t exactly in love with Staples Center.

“Very new millennium-ish,” is his best description of the place so far. He generally thinks it’s nice, he plans to challenge its structural integrity (“No building can withstand the volume of the decibels of my car stereo”) and he plans to win games here.

But so far the chance to make this his house does not appear to be a primary motivating factor. Nor does the widespread belief that Tim Duncan is now the most coveted player in the NBA.

“I don’t care,” he said.

One thing O’Neal is responding to is his new coach, Phil Jackson. For the first time, O’Neal has a leader who isn’t afraid to lay down challenges for O’Neal in public view, to tweak and goad and prod him.

O’Neal is making more of a commitment to defense.

“He’s been very active in blocking shots and trying to block shots,” point guard Derek Fisher said.

Not only is he willing to commit a few fouls, he’s learning to play with fouls, Fisher said.

As a result, the guards can afford to take more chances on the perimeter, knowing the big fella has their back.

“I’m just trying to play a little bit smarter,” O’Neal said. “Be there on rebounding, be there on blocked shots.”

O’Neal still has a ways to go to please his boss, who offers praise and critiques of his star in equal doses.

“I think he’s improved his concentration and focus level a lot,” Jackson said. “But he relaxes at certain times. We think that he can eat up a few more spaces out there on the floor, do a couple more things to help our defense. Just that little critical point of when we get the ball back and start our offense quickly is in his hands a lot of times.”

It’s clear that Jackson only harps on O’Neal because he thinks he’s capable of being the great player everyone predicted he would be.

Jackson has said Shaq needs to be the leader of this team, but has questioned whether O’Neal can truly assume that role if he can’t be counted on to make free throws in the clutch.

O’Neal takes whatever barbs Jackson has tossed at him.

“No problem,” O’Neal said. “I understand.”

He said Jackson’s goals are the “same goals I set for myself. I set higher goals than any other human being sets for me.”

Right now the Lakers need him to meet all expectations. With Kobe Bryant out for the first 12 games with a broken bone in his hand, with Glen Rice and the triangle still adjusting to each other (somehow A.C. Green wound up with more shots than Rice in the first quarter of Wednesday night’s game against Vancouver) and without any other healthy young big men to offer support, O’Neal is basically responsible for both ends of the floor.

If the Lakers come out of November with a winning record it will be Shaq’s achievement.

To be completely accurate, we can’t say O’Neal got off on the right foot in his first game at Staples Center. Sitting at his locker before the game, he grabbed one of his gigantic shoes and put it on his left foot. Then he realized it was the right shoe.

He looked over and flashed one of those you-didn’t-see-that-did-you? grins.

Well, 18,997 fans saw him miss his first shot at Staples Center. They also saw him score eight of the Lakers’ first 13 points. By halftime O’Neal had seven baskets and four assists, giving him a hand in 11 of the team’s 24 field goals.

O’Neal gave the Lakers 28 points and 10 rebounds for the game, and the most important stat right now is that the Lakers are 2-0. He helped them win at Utah, then helped carry them through a listless first half against Vancouver.

For a change, points shouldn’t be the primary way we judge O’Neal. Even though he isn’t featured quite as prominently, he’ll still get them.

The triangle offense still features the ball going in to Shaq on a regular basis. The difference is now players move and cut to the hoop as soon as he gets it. Usually, however, the end result is O’Neal isolated against a defender within 10 feet of the hoop. There still aren’t any better scoring threats in the NBA than that.

For O’Neal to be complete, for him to put his stamp on the team and the building, he needs to contend for the league lead in rebounds and blocked shots.

The building’s unofficial title awaits him.

The Kings added a bona fide scorer in Ziggy Palffy and are playing a more exciting style of hockey, but even with their good start they’re having trouble selling out the building.

Lamar Odom’s off to a good start, but he’s handicapped by all those Clippers around him.

Even though Staples Center was a Kings project, word is that O’Neal’s presence on the Lakers helped the financing come through.

Does O’Neal want this to be Shaq’s Shack?

“Yeah, that’d be cool,” he said.

“It’s a big building. I didn’t realize it was that big.

“I see they’re making their money back quickly, though. Charging $12 for parking.”

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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com.