Now, Even Hacks Don’t Get to Shaq

It occurred to Shaquille O’Neal the other day that he used to wonder if he’d ever win.

That was back before the tears. Before Phil Jackson. Before his friendship with the headstrong kid from Philly.

Standing on a shiny gym floor on a gray day in El Segundo on Friday, O’Neal said the thought led him to a greater appreciation of these past two years, of the two championship seasons that passed so quickly and what they’d done for him.

You get the sense it is a good time to be Shaquille O’Neal again. His game is ferocious and the Lakers are up two games on the Portland Trail Blazers in a best-of-five series and his toe isn’t quite as bothersome, which has allowed him to get off the Indocin occasionally so he can eat and sleep normally. Many nights, his children watch him from cushy seats at Staples Center, directly across from the Laker bench, from their Shaq daddy, and he smiles sweetly to them when he thinks no one is watching.

On Thursday night, in a violent game played between personal fouls and technical fouls and flagrant fouls, he was hacked viciously by a player with everything to gain by it, and he grinned. He flexed his left hand to get the sting out, and he went to the free-throw line, and he made both, even as Ruben Patterson summoned just enough courage to glare at him.

So pleased, O’Neal dabbed at his temples with his fingers, curled daintily, as if deeply--and comically--in love with himself.

“I’m not really worried about what other teams, other organizations are doing, and what they’re taught to do,” he said. “It’s not time for me to lose focus. That would have been an easy play to retaliate on. But it’s the playoffs. I just have to let it go. I think I sent the message when I stepped up to the line and hit both free throws--swish, swish.”

The crowd chuckled, and so did the Lakers, and O’Neal seductively flapped his eyelashes at them all.

“It’s all about marketing,” he said. “I’m just out there having fun and trying not to worry about all that other stuff.”

He averaged 28 points, 11.5 rebounds and two blocks in the two victories over the Trail Blazers. Game 3 is Sunday in Portland. He moved easily beneath the basket on both ends and is beginning to run the floor better, including a left-handed dunk to finish a fastbreak in Game 2. He has made 12 of 19 free throws, becoming so sure of himself that he’s actually stared quizzically at a few he has made.

“That’s because the ball is not supposed to hit the rim,” O’Neal said. “I’m upset at the rim when the ball hits the rim, so I’m looking at the rim, like, ‘[Darn] it, rim, move out the way.’”

It is his time of year, his time of life.

“I was sitting back reflecting on when I didn’t have any,” he said of championships. “I was saying to myself, ‘Just try to get one.’ Now that I have two, I’m focusing on getting No. 3. So, really no pressure on us. We’re just trying to do something for the city, for the organization, for Phil, for myself.”

He was told that it is funny how things work out, how none can become two in the flutter of his eyelash, and how quickly the strain of the climb becomes the nerve of the defense.

“I try not to think about it that much,” he said. “I promised myself I wouldn’t think about it until I hold a press conference and say I’m not going to play anymore. Then we all can look back and say, ‘He did this,’ or, ‘He did that.’ But I’m not satisfied with two. I won’t be satisfied with three.”

What would it take to appease him?

“Six.”

In a row?

“Uh-uh. Not in a row. The league probably wouldn’t like that. They’d try to break us up.”

He laughed, something he does a lot more of now, even in the tangle of blows brought by the Trail Blazers. A few months ago, similar beatings brought anger and a punch that whooshed close to one of those life-jarring moments.

“I’m not concentrating on what they do,” O’Neal said. “I’m concentrating on getting one more of those [trophies]. I’m in my own type of focus right now. I’m not listening to nobody, I’m not looking at nobody. I’m just listening to Phil and looking at my teammates, and I’m just trying to get No. 3.

“I’ve been pacing myself. I told y’all before I was going to hold my game back a little bit so the young fella could try to get MVP. A couple games I have been slow. But if there’s ever a game that I’m slow, I don’t want you to make excuses for me. If I have a crappy game, I’m not going to say my toe was hurting. So I don’t want you to say my toe was hurting. So, a couple games I haven’t been feeling well, but we’re still good enough to do what we do.”