Shaq Should Get Whopper of a Deal

Shaquille O’Neal is expected to announce a multiyear, multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with Burger King by early next week, and so make progress toward broadening his corporate appeal.

Twice the NBA Finals most valuable player, twice a league scoring leader and once a league MVP, O’Neal has not had the residual advertising successes of, say, teammate Kobe Bryant, among other NBA players.

O’Neal has a national contract with Nestle, but little else, one of the reasons he changed management about a month ago.

Since hiring Perry Rogers of Las Vegas as his agent and Mike Parris as his business manager, O’Neal specifically has sought corporate relationships in hopes they can be sustained beyond his playing career.

Rogers and Parris have plans to broaden O’Neal’s holdings, similar to the business framework established by former Laker Magic Johnson, who has ownership in Los Angeles area movie theaters, coffee shops, gyms and hamburger stands, among other ventures.

Traditionally, Madison Avenue has been kinder to the NBA’s smaller--and flashier--players, and NBA centers have had relatively low commercial profiles.

Endorsement contracts in the NBA were rare before Michael Jordan became huge with Nike in the late 1980s, and Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar actually were better received after their careers were over.

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Derek Fisher, recovering from off-season foot surgery, will have a bone scan Nov. 19. Based on that examination, he could be cleared to play as early as the next night against the Clippers.

Robert Horry has a sore right hamstring. That has limited his play but the injury has allowed Coach Phil Jackson to experiment with Samaki Walker and Slava Medvedenko at power forward.

The Grizzlies moved guard Michael Dickerson to the injured list and activated forward Antonis Fotsis.