O’Neal Most Animated When He’s in Foul Mood

In the most over-officiated period in NBA history, Shaquille O’Neal is the guy who can’t shoot free throws.

He’s a prolific shooter, actually. He’s just not a maker. And there’s the rub, which is not allowed in the final two minutes of either half, which was exactly O’Neal’s point Friday afternoon after practice.

O’Neal has fouled out of consecutive games. He received a technical foul on the way out of the last one, Wednesday’s victory over Utah, and Kobe Bryant is beginning a collection of his own.

O’Neal leads the Lakers in personal fouls and the NBA in free throws. He doesn’t want to complain, really, but the man would like some consistency.

He was in an El Segundo parking lot Friday in head-to-toe black attire, holding up reporters’ hands and leaving them there so he could show them how he’s trying to defend people.

Then he danced around the parking lot, his eyebrows up and his lips peeled back in a ridiculous grin, making like attention-thirsty referees calling charging fouls or offensive fouls or hand checks or whatever. He laughed.

“I’m not mad,” O’Neal said. “Well, you know who I’m mad for? I’m mad for the fans. I’m mad for Norm Pattiz. He pays all that . . . money to come watch us play and he has to watch that . . . . Who wants to see that? They want to see us play.”

O’Neal had pulled a season-ticket holder’s name out of the air, a guy who during games at Staples Center sits closer to Phil Jackson than Devean George does. So, on many nights, Pattiz gets to watch the free throw contest from closer than the rest, and maybe that’s a better investment than Dallas owner Mark Cuban’s $250,000 (and counting) fine, and maybe it’s not.

“Most of the fouls are [poor] calls,” O’Neal said. “The other fouls are trying to help my teammates out or trying to block shots. I don’t foul my guy as much. So, I’m just playing without worrying about them calling stuff. I’m just playing hard. Whatever happens, happens.

“They’ve got all these little rules, I’ve got to abide by the rules. They’re going to call me for not touching [John] Stockton but looking like I’m touching him, they call it. What about down there? When I get beat up? I got coaches telling the media what they’re going to do [Hack-a-Shaq], but I still don’t get the calls. . . . that. I’m playing defense and trying to block shots. . . . them, . . . everybody. I’m serious. They need to call it the same every time. [Karl] Malone and Stockton get to yell at the refs, say anything they want to say, and I don’t say anything? . . . that. I’m just as big as [Malone] is.”

It is a familiar cry, particularly from an inside player. But, if O’Neal is going to spend all of this time shooting free throws, maybe he wants to know why. Maybe he wants to know what a foul is and what isn’t, just out of curiosity.

“You just have to play through it,” he said. “You can’t change it. It’s not about me getting calls or not getting calls. Call them consistently. You’re going to call me for reaching, why don’t you call John Stockton for reaching? Call me for talking to the ref, call them cats for talking to the ref. I’m just as big as them cats. And I don’t want to hear that they’ve got more experience. It’s not my fault they were born before I was.”

He smiled.

“I’ve been in this raggedy- . . . league for nine years,” he said. “I demand my respect.”

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O’Neal, on his free-throw form, which is showing some promise despite his 39% efforts: “I’m getting back on track. I’ll be there. I’ll be there.” . . . Brian Shaw is expected to return to the club today. His son, who had been in an Oakland hospital with an infection, was feeling better.