Hard Season Weighs Heavily on O’Neal

“I’m comfortable where I’m at. I’m 345, 14% body fat. I’m not going to get any smaller. If it ever comes to a point to where I can’t do it anymore, then I’ll just retire. Nobody plays forever. I’ve been in this raggedy league for 10 years now and if it ever gets to where I don’t want to work out, where I don’t feel like working out, then I’ll just have other things to fall back on.”

--Shaquille O’Neal last week

The Big (Fill in the Blank) at the crossroads....

It was a rough season for the local jolly giant, who wasn’t as jolly, if more gigantic. But aren’t they all?

By objective standards, he should be on top of the world. He’s rich, he’s famous, he has a nice family life, he’s on a powerhouse team with a fellow superstar as his sidekick.

It’s a great life, except for when he feels put upon by opponents pounding on him, opponents flopping, referees protecting opponents, the league changing the rules to thwart him and the media for everything they do, not to mention the occasional snit with Phil Jackson.

Of course, that was most of this season.

One of his nicknames in the dressing room--out of earshot, anyway--is the Big Moody. This season was particularly trying for him and, consequently, everyone around him.

After coming in heavy last season and playing his way into shape, he vowed to come back at 290, his rookie weight. But when he began working out, the little toe on his left foot flared up, requiring surgery. There went his summer.

Then in the fall, his right big toe began hurting, meaning he couldn’t practice. So much for playing his way into shape.

Nobody can say for sure his weight caused his injuries, but, on the other hand, it couldn’t have helped. Moreover, he just turned 30. Injuries no longer heal overnight, nor can he eat whatever he wants without gaining weight.

Not that he seems to feel like making any more promises to change at the moment.

It’s not a question of falling from grace. He has already secured his place in this league.

It is a question of whether he goes back to his old level, rather than his current one ... and how much fun he has doing it ... and how long he feels like staying around to do it. He has been telling teammates lately it’ll be two more seasons and out, but despite myriad annoyances, this is his world now.

Recognition, withheld for so long, has gone beyond anything he ever hoped for. The question is no longer whether he’s the NBA’s most dominating player--everyone concedes that--but whether he’s the most dominating who ever played.

Even people who go back to Wilt Chamberlain now have O’Neal ahead of everyone.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think Shaquille is the best center to ever play the game,” said Jerry West, who played with Chamberlain, coached Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, signed O’Neal and never said anything like it before.

“You feel kind of bad saying that because of Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt, but I just don’t see anyone else with the whole package like him, now or ever.”

Says Pete Newell, the big man’s guru: “I’ve never seen anyone like Shaq. I’ve never seen anyone with better hands. I haven’t seen a man that big with better footwork. How many of the best centers had the spin move? ... None of them.”

Even in a sub-par season, O’Neal was third in the MVP race--while coaches and general managers around the league noted the voting didn’t necessarily have anything to do with real life.

“We talk about who should be the MVP, but it should be Shaq,” said Buck General Manager Ernie Grunfeld at midseason.

While promoting his own Tracy McGrady, Orlando Coach Doc Rivers added, “But let’s face it, you could vote for Shaq every year.”

Not that O’Neal’s gig isn’t harder than it looks. You may think for $25 million a year, you could handle it, but then there’s the scrutiny, which even got to Michael Jordan, who became obsessed with disproving anything anyone said about him.

(Kobe Bryant is a notable exception. When they were feuding, it was always O’Neal who got mad first. Bryant was so much into his own trip, he barely knew Shaq was there. With Bryant, it’s rarely personal but with Shaq, it usually is.)

Despite the Lakers’ predicament, this is actually a better time for O’Neal, whose mood lifts as the end nears. In the conference finals--but not before--he starts going to the interview room, where he’s so engaging. He made last season’s all-interview second team, a signal honor for one who speaks so infrequently.

Nevertheless, he’s limited and embarrassed about it. He tiptoes through first quarters, warming up his sore feet or pacing his large self, especially at home, which is why the Lakers are having trouble.

He’s especially keen to make sure the media understands he’s hurting, as he was in San Antonio, or being shortchanged, as when he was called for those charging fouls in Sacramento, as opposed to being outplayed by anyone, as if someone doubted it.

Last week, bristling at a suggestion, which only he had divined, that Vlade Divac had somehow gotten the better of him in Game 2, he told writers:

“Sometimes, I think you guys insult me by not writing what you see.”

Here’s what I see. These are the good times and when they’re gone, you can’t imagine how much you’re going to miss this raggedy league.

Faces and Figures

Despite widespread skepticism about Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets, who drew the first pick, are signaling they will, indeed, select him. Chicago is a lock to take Jay Williams, so that’s two spots nailed down.... What, us disappointed? The New York Knicks, who were acting as if they already owned Yao’s rights, are now cheerily preparing to choose seventh. General Manager Scott Layden: “We could easily have lost ground so you look at it positively. We didn’t hurt ourselves today. The draft has the potential to go beyond seven.” Of course, they’re still interested in trading for No. 1, if the Rockets will take that Latrell Sprewell-Marcus Camby package everyone else has been turning down for years.

How I spent my summer: Despite wowing everyone in the postseason, rookie Tony Parker had to carry David Robinson’s shoes, pictures and basketballs to the car when the San Antonio Spurs cleaned out their lockers. “Tony can’t forget who he is,” Robinson said. “He can’t forget his place. If I see him during the summer, he’s still mine. When next season starts, he’s officially not obligated anymore.” ... Despite the heat Divac gets, the fact is everyone flops now. Referees are falling for it, calling charges as long as the defender makes it look good by falling backward. Says Seattle’s Desmond Mason, an artist in only his second season: “A lot of big guys see a smaller guy on him so what they want to do is bang him. They want to take a hard dribble, get up under and try to jump up and dunk on him. So what I do is I hold my ground and when they make that power dribble, I take that blow.... You can flop. I’m not going to say that it’s all a charge. The guy is hitting me hard but he isn’t hitting me hard enough where I can’t stand my ground and take that shot. You got to put a little Hollywood in it.”

The SuperSonics, in rebuilding mode, are signaling they won’t re-sign Gary Payton, 34 in July, whose agent announced he wants a contract extension before next season. “Not once did he say anything to me about his extension,” Coach Nate McMillan said after Payton’s exit interview. “I expect him to honor his contract. I expect him to be here next year.” ... They’re off to a rough summer in Denver, which was hoping to land Larry Brown, who now looks as if he’ll actually stay in Philadelphia. No Brown probably means no Antonio McDyess, who’ll be a free agent in 2003 and already looked as though he was halfway out the door, having told Sports Illustrated’s Ian Thomsen: “I won’t say that I’m definitely leaving, but I’m not getting younger.” Nor does McDyess seem keen on the Nuggets’ request that he help them recruit free agents. “What do I tell them?” he asked. “I can’t sell them on us winning because we haven’t won. I can’t sell them on the weather or the tax [breaks] because it’s not Florida or Texas.” ... Memphis University Coach John Calipari, who had signed junior college star Qyntel Woods, said teams at the bottom of the NBA draft were inflating his prospects, hoping to entice him to come out. “See,” said Calipari, “what I did was I went public and said that if he’s not a top-five pick then he’s coming with us. And then what did he become? A top-five pick. But you’re not going to fool Vanesia [Woods’ mother]. They know what’s going on.” ... After that, Woods declared for the draft, along with freshman Dajuan Wagner, Calipari’s star, and junior Chris Massie, his starting power forward.