Graduation Means O’Neal Will Miss Game

Shaquille O’Neal will miss Friday’s game against Vancouver so he can graduate that day with Louisiana State’s class of 2000, more than eight years after he left to become a millionaire in the NBA.

On Saturday, the university will retire his No. 33.

“I’m the first to graduate with a degree in crayon biology,” O’Neal said Monday afternoon. “I’m valedictorian.”

He laughed.

“Thank God for the Internet,” he said.

The degree--in general studies, actually--fulfills a promise he made to his mother, Lucille, when he declared for the NBA draft a year before his college eligibility expired. He took a few classes last summer at an LSU satellite campus, then finished his final courses in the fall via correspondence.

“Actually, it was kind of hard,” he said. “I thought it was going to be easy, but it was hard. I was out of school for a while. Then trying to be a student again [was difficult].”

O’Neal has chartered a jet that will fly him to Baton Rouge, La., after Thursday’s Laker practice in El Segundo. The graduation ceremony will be held Friday afternoon and evening.

His jersey will be retired at halftime of the LSU-New Orleans game, which starts at 7 p.m. Central time Saturday night. The chartered jet then will carry him from Baton Rouge to Toronto, where the Lakers play the Raptors at 12:45 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday.

“The organization was gracious enough to let me go,” O’Neal said. “I’m not sentimental about it, I’m excited. It’s something I always said I would do. I’ll have something to fall back on in case my extension falls through.”

O’Neal grinned. The Lakers signed him to a three-year, $88.4-million extension in the fall.

His jersey will hang beside those of Pete Maravich and Bob Pettit.

“It’s great to have your name and number retired next to Pistol Pete,” O’Neal said. “I’ve seen some of his highlights and he was fabulous. So, to have my number retired with his is an honor. And, [LSU Athletic Director] Joe Dean always said once I graduated, they’d retire my number.”

O’Neal’s absence will hinder the Lakers, who are playing unevenly in defense of their championship, but his teammates were happy for him.

“He probably had the least motivation of anyone to go back and get his degree,” Rick Fox said, referring to O’Neal’s contract. “We give him a lot of credit for sticking with that.”

*

Kobe Bryant, who suffered a slight sprain on the inside of his left ankle Sunday night, practiced Monday. Afterward, he said, “It’s pinching a little bit.”

He received treatment and reported no swelling.

“I could probably play on it,” Bryant said. “Today I played on it.”

If he was limited, it was in his stopping and cutting.

“But there’s ways you can get around it,” he said. “So, I’m not worried about it.”

TONIGHT

vs. Milwaukee, 7:30

Fox Sports Net

* Site--Staples Center

* Radio--KLAC-AM (570)

* Records--Lakers 15-7, Bucks 9-11.

* Record vs. Bucks--(1999-2000) 2-0.

* Update: The Lakers have won nine consecutive games against the Bucks and eight in a row at home. Their last home loss to Milwaukee was in 1991, when Kobe Bryant was 12. This is, however, the kind of team that has given the Lakers trouble in recent weeks. Like the Lakers, the Bucks score a lot of points and give up a lot. In the Bucks’ case, they allow more than they get. Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson combine for more than 40 points a game.

* Tickets--(800) 462-2849.