Referee’s Call Puts O’Neal in a Foul Mood

As if he needed another motor-skill variable at the free-throw line, Shaquille O’Neal was called for a lane violation Tuesday night when he lurched into the lane before his shot reached the rim area.

In case he wasn’t annoyed enough--what with the offenses that drag him out to the three-point arc, the defenses that bracket him, and the aching big toe he is pretty sure will require surgery--O’Neal has this, another technicality from a league he already considers “raggedy,” or worse.

And while O’Neal glared at referee Greg Willard for the rest of the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, by Wednesday evening he was mostly over it and the issue did not arise in 15 free-throw attempts against the Phoenix Suns.

“They can do whatever they want to try to stop me,” said O’Neal, who made four of the 15.

Asked why officials might suddenly choose to enforce a rule they basically ignored for months, he said, “Because they don’t want me to score 50 a game in this ... league.”

Should referees overindulge themselves on O’Neal’s habit of prematurely entering the lane, Phil Jackson said the Lakers would forward to the league office “miles of footage” of similar violations by opposing players, “if they want to call something as petty as that.”

In fact, Jackson said he was amazed at the “gumption” of the Cavaliers’ complaints, seeing that Andre Miller repeatedly set up with his toe on the line.

“We’ll see what happens,” he said.

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As Jackson begins to form his postseason rotation, Mitch Richmond has lost playing time to the triangle-savvy Brian Shaw.

The problem is this: Richmond can’t get into a shooting rhythm without minutes, and the minutes aren’t coming because Richmond has made only 28.8% of his three-point shots.

And it is nearly April, a time when the rotation tightens.

“I still like my decision to come here,” Richmond said. “I like Phil and I like the team. But I don’t feel like I’ve gotten the opportunity to show I can play. The playoffs come, and you want to be a part of it.”

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Three weeks from the postseason, the Lakers probably will not add a player, General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. That means no big body behind O’Neal and no Ron Harper.

“We don’t anticipate making any changes at this time,” Kupchak said. “It could change--knock on wood--with an injury or a phone call. But I don’t anticipate that.”