Cuban Speaks Up in Defense of the Whiners

Someone has to speak for the “whiners and complainers” of the NBA, loosely defined in Laker circles as anyone who disagrees with Phil Jackson.

Jackson this week dismissed as such those coaches trying to regulate Shaquille O’Neal’s occasional habit of stumbling into the lane as part of his free-throw mechanics. The topic arose during recent coaches’ meetings in Chicago, and although those who were there remember it as being as much about Anthony Mason as O’Neal, Jackson came away disgusted at another so-called “Shaq rule.”

Not unpredictably, Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban was first to defend the letter of the rule and to challenge Jackson’s view of it.

“There’s nothing worse than someone who thinks the rules should be different for them,” Cuban said. “This is a game where it’s at its best when everyone plays by the same rules and the best players stand out. When people complain that they can’t get special treatment, it’s usually because they need it.”

That being said, Cuban said, “Shaq should be on his hands and knees, thanking me. No one else seemed to want to stand up ... about his stepping over the free-throw line. I did. He knew he was wrong and fixed it. That’s what great players do. If no one had spoken up, he would have gone down in history as the big guy with three rings that wasn’t strong enough to get a free throw to the basket without stepping on the line.”

O’Neal grinned.

“OK,” he said, agreeably. “Tell Mark I said, ‘Thank you very much.’ ”

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For the first time, O’Neal ventured a guess when he’ll return to the floor. He said he doubted his surgically repaired toe would be healed enough to play by Oct. 29, opening night, but figured to play “within a couple weeks” of that.

O’Neal could be cleared to begin light running next week.

“The true test will be when I start banging and jumping,” he said.

“It feels pretty good, though.”

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O’Neal, who sat out Friday’s 95-87 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, isn’t talking about retiring when Jackson does anymore.

A year ago, he often said he would leave basketball when Jackson, who has two years remaining on his contract, left the Lakers. Friday, he said he might play five years beyond his current contract, which has three years on it, and that he’s committed to at least two more championships.

“I would like to be on the same [level] as Magic and Kareem,” O’Neal said.

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O’Neal also took the opportunity to lobby for 7-foot center Soumailia Samake, in camp on a make-good contract. O’Neal said he would like the Lakers to sign a backup center with the size and strength to spell him for 10 minutes or so a game, and apparently he doesn’t see that guy among the 12 guaranteed contracts.

“It will put some years on my career if I have a guy like [Samake] backing me up,” he said. “I have proven when I get rest ... I’m better.”

Samake, who played in Italy last year, had 10 points and 13 rebounds in 26 minutes Friday.

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Mark Madsen’s strained left hamstring is severe enough that he could miss the rest of the exhibition season, Jackson said.

Madsen landed awkwardly trying to break up a pass in Thursday’s practice, and Friday he walked with a heavy limp.

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Kobe Bryant had 18 points against the Grizzlies and Derek Fisher, in his return to his native Little Rock, scored 13.... Jerry West watched the game from a seat behind the scorer’s table. Before the game, he bumped into O’Neal. “You look cool,” West told him. “But you always look cool.” ... Rick Fox, who has a sore lower back, did not play and probably won’t play tonight against the Denver Nuggets in Oklahoma City.