View From The Other Side

Shaquille O’Neal has been pretty rude to the Kings of late, no doubt about that. Three consecutive games now, he has squashed them with his offense, his defense, his tantalizingly boyish, bruising presence.

So while Shaq is the obvious choice for the league’s MVP, he is not a VPP (Very Popular Person) in Sacramento these days. In the aftermath of a calm, rather uneventful practice Monday, the 7-foot-1, 330-pound mound of granite verbally gift-wrapped a present for his undersized opponents from up north.

What he did is, he called the Kings’ coach “an idiot” for suggesting that O’Neal curries favor with the officials. Now, if this doesn’t rouse the Kings, awakening them from their lengthy, late-season slumber, transforming Game 2 into an uplifting passion play, with bodies scrambling and scrapping and slamming their way into this best-of-five, opening-round series, then, frankly, nothing will.

Are the energy-deprived Kings finally ready, mentally and physically, to display some mettle--OK, to get downright defensive for the first time in forever--and attack the problem?

All of it. All of them. Shaq, Kobe, Phil Jackson, with Jerry West presiding. That combination of talent and tradition is indeed formidable, but NBA history has demonstrated that an attitude adjustment can work wonders, or at least make things competitive. It’s called gamesmanship.

When asked after Tuesday’s practice why he judged Rick Adelman so harshly, Shaq was momentarily knocked back. “I called him [Adelman] an idiot?” O’Neal asked, genuinely surprised.

A few journalists assured him that, yes, he did. “OK, you win 2-1,” O’Neal replied, grinning.

And then Shaq stubbornly went back on the attack. He honestly believes he is the aggrieved party, a marked man if you will--and we’re not talking about those tattoos--and can’t fathom how anyone could question his ability to slip and slide and establish position in the lane. And when wounded, he takes all slights personally.

“I’m one of the last of the true centers,” he insisted, frowning. “I like playing in the paint. I can step out and shoot jumpers just like Dave [Robinson] and Alonzo [Mourning], but that’s not what I want to do. I’m good enough to go around people. I don’t have to go through them. . . . [Adelman] insulted my skills, so yeah, I’m offended.”

Kings? It’s your turn, Kings.