Hosannas or Humbug?

Shaquille O’Neal should be cheered today. Cheered loud and long, because for all the headaches and missed free throws along the way he ultimately made the Lakers winners, because things haven’t been quite the same since he left and because, not-so-deep inside, he really needs to hear the approval of everyone except a certain resident of Newport Beach.

If it once seemed unimaginable that O’Neal would ever come to Staples Center in another uniform, it would have been just as difficult to say that his return would be anything but triumphant. Now that Christmas Day is finally here, we still don’t know what type of reception he’ll receive when he is announced as the Miami Heat’s starting center.

“I hope it’s a positive one,” O’Neal said. “I hope they miss me. I hope they give me a standing ovation.

“I know I did everything the right way. Usually when everything’s done the right way , the outcome is positive.”

We can’t be positive it will be positive. When he appears on Staples Center’s scoreboard screen for halftime highlights these days, scattered boos can be heard through the arena.

There’s still so much bitterness and finger pointing from the Great Breakup of 2004. Still so much confusion among some Laker fans who actually believe it was O’Neal’s demands that led to his trade to Miami. Still so much resentment at his slimmer physique that makes it look as though he thought he had to be in South Beach to go on the South Beach Diet.

Take a break from all of the blaming and just reflect on what happened for the 514 regular-season and 122 playoff games that O’Neal wore a Laker uniform.

He averaged 27 points and 12 rebounds and shot 57.5% in the regular season, 27.7 and 13.4 while shooting 55.7% in the playoffs. When he came to town as a free agent in 1996 the Lakers instantly escaped from their post-Magic purgatory and became one of the talked-about teams again.

When they failed to meet the expectations, when they were swept out of the playoffs twice in three years, that wasn’t on him. His numbers always went up in the postseason. And for all of the injuries, he never missed a playoff game.

Finally, his career year coincided with Kobe Bryant’s emergence as an equally powerful force, and the Lakers broke through in 2000 and reigned over the NBA through 2002.

Remember the parades? Could you dig it?

You know O’Neal did. That’s why when asked about what Los Angeles means to him, his initial recollections are positive ones.

“The best times in my life happened in L.A.,” he said. “Winning championships. Hanging out with the police. Meeting people and seeing people.”

He always was a people person. When Auri Allen was a 6-foot-6 12-year-old, “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” flew him from Nashville to Los Angeles to meet O’Neal. Allen had only three pairs of the size 18 shoes he needed. He had a baker’s dozen after O’Neal hooked him up with 10 pairs from Friedman’s shoe store in Atlanta. O’Neal took Allen to lunch and showed him around L.A.

“He’s a gentle giant,” said Allen, who’s now at Verbum Dei. “Shaq’s a really good person. He likes to joke around, likes to give you a bear hug.”

A lot of unsuspecting ballboys and reporters found out about the bear hug part the hard way. It kept the locker room a looser, livelier place.

And, of course, winning’s always good for morale.

The Lakers won an average of 57.4 games a season (not including the lockout-shortened 1999 season) when O’Neal was here.

It’s supposed to be about winning. Of all the reasons given by all the sides this summer, keeping the winning ways going never seemed to take priority.

O’Neal alienated management with his demands for a contract extension, the Lakers knew O’Neal’s presence could hinder their chances to re-sign Bryant, and they made up their minds that he would be gone. O’Neal knew it, and said he wanted out before the trade rumors were cranked up.

“When you’re the owner of the business, you’ve got to do what’s best for you,” O’Neal said. “Because nobody from [the front] office called me and informed me. I knew they were trying to move me since February. They tried to be sneaky. I took it personal. But I don’t take it personal now.

“I went public because they were waiting for me to go public. Then they could jump on the bandwagon. You know how the game works.... I didn’t want to be there anymore.”

O’Neal likes to be liked. No matter how many times he says “I don’t care” or “It doesn’t matter” (a total of five, in an interview this week), he does and it does. Whenever he cracks a joke he always waits with a little look of anticipation, as if he’s seeking approval or validation.

There won’t be any elaborate ceremony today. At some point, the right thing needs to take place and O’Neal’s No. 34 needs to go up alongside the other Laker greats on the Staples Center walls.

Laker owner Jerry Buss has said he’ll do it if O’Neal wants.

“Yes, it would be nice,” O’Neal said. “I appreciate it.

“We can look back on all the good times and see it go up.”

But it’s hard to imagine everyone gathering around and holding hands as long as Bryant is a Laker. The rift is that deep.

O’Neal doesn’t even refer to Bryant by name anymore -- nowadays it’s “that guy” or “your boy” or some other generic phrase -- and he doesn’t sound ready for reconciliation.

“No,” O’Neal said. “For what? Listen man, and listen good: I have a beautiful wife and five kids. I could care less about any other dude.

“I move on. I expect everybody else to move on.”

After weeks in full marketing mode, he’s been easing off lately, saying that this game isn’t as big as “The Shaq-Return-To-Orlando Remix” as far as his feelings are concerned, and that it isn’t an individual showdown.

“I could care less about how many points I score,” O’Neal said. “This is the real game. This ain’t And 1 vs. the Harlem Globetrotters.”

His team comes in on a 10-game winning streak, leading the Eastern Conference with a 21-7 record. Like the Lakers, the Heat struggles against the NBA’s upper echelon (the two teams are a combined 0-7 against the likes of San Antonio, Phoenix, Seattle, Minnesota and Dallas). But the Heat’s done a better job handling business against the rest of the league than the 14-11 Lakers.

O’Neal has paced himself with a 21 point-per-game average that projects as the lowest of his career.

“He could go out and get 30 every night, but he’s been unselfish,” said Dwyane Wade, the second-year guard who is the Heat’s leading scorer. “He’s made our team better.”

He made the Lakers better once. Not too long ago. That’s his real legacy here.

*

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/adande.