O’Neal Laughs Off MVP Voting

It appears Shaquille O’Neal won’t be league most valuable player again, finishing third this season after slogging through 67 games on a bad toe.

He touted Kobe Bryant as his choice in training camp, which raised the perception he’d defer parts of his game to the young and ambitious Bryant, and then did not have enough rebounds to qualify with the league leaders. He averaged 10.7 rebounds, which would have ranked seventh, and 27.2 points, second to Allen Iverson’s 31.4.

By all reports, San Antonio’s Tim Duncan will be MVP, followed by New Jersey’s Jason Kidd. The near-unanimous MVP two years ago, O’Neal finished behind Iverson and Duncan last year, and by Tuesday evening was somewhat disturbed he would be overlooked again.

“In the state of California, there’s no justice when a 211 occurs,” said O’Neal, a slight smile across his face. “Once again, I’ve been robbed. Robbery!”

Then he laughed.

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The Lakers aren’t big on individual postseason awards.

Phil Jackson, who has coached eight of the last 10 NBA champions and has been coach of the year one time, did not get a vote in this year’s balloting.

He didn’t get a vote last year, either.

He was, however, CBA coach of the year in 1985, when the Albany Patroons won 34 of 48 games.

This year, Isiah Thomas, Don Nelson and Doug Collins all got votes, and Maurice Cheeks, who guided one of the most expensive rosters in the NBA to a sixth-place finish in the Western Conference, got four.

Told about the Collins vote, Jackson smiled and said, “Most of the local writers will vote for their coach.”

In the annual balloting among coaches, Jackson said he’d voted for Utah’s Jerry Sloan four consecutive times.

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Part of the challenge with O’Neal’s stitches, strung along the top crease on his right forefinger, was bandaging the wound in a way that would protect it and allow him some touch on the basketball.

Trainer Gary Vitti adhered a light pad with tape, and left the tip exposed.

“If he was a three-point shooter,” Jackson said, “I’d say [I was worried].”

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The Lakers have taken a 1-0 lead in 45 previous best-of-seven series and have won 40 of them. The Spurs have never won a best-of-seven after losing the first game, in nine tries.... O’Neal had 3,056 career playoff points going into Game 2, 32 fewer than Julius Erving, who is 14th on the all-time list.