Suddenly, the Lottery Doesn’t Look so Bad

Former Laker center Shaquille O’Neal was his usual glib self in an interview with ESPN. In extolling the virtues of former coach Phil Jackson, O’Neal promised a gift, of sorts, to any coach who could match the run of success Jackson had with the Lakers.

“If a coach goes to the Finals four times in five years [as Jackson did],” O’Neal said, “I’ll kiss his feet on ‘Fear Factor’ ... with cheese on them.”

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More Laker talk: While telling of his mutual admiration society with Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, Kobe Bryant told ESPN, “If I had went to college, I would have went to Duke.”

Perhaps if Bryant had attended Duke, he would have said “gone to college” and “gone to Duke” instead of “went.”

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Trivia time: With a bow to martial arts legend Bruce Lee, who died July 20, 1973, where did the “Little Dragon” attend college?

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Looking back: On this date in 1985, John Henry, the biggest money winner in horse racing history, was retired. The 10-year-old, who won 39 races in 83 starts, earned $6,597,947 in total purses.

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Getting ‘Boozered’: Even before his last name became a verb synonymous with bamboozling people, Carlos Boozer was not looking forward to a fun summer, wrote Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon Journal.

It seems that Boozer, who, along with his agent, Rob Pelinka, hoodwinked the Cleveland Cavaliers and signed a more lucrative contract with the Utah Jazz, is being sued by former Cleveland Brown defensive back Percy Ellsworth for $15,000. Ellsworth’s claim: back rent.

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Character counts: The San Jose Mercury News’ Tim Kawakami thinks Golden State has the better end of the deal with free-agent point guard Derek Fisher choosing the Warriors over the Lakers.

“There’s one last bonus,” Kawakami wrote. “Fisher migrating from L.A. sends a signal about the two teams. The Lakers have committed to Kobe, come hell or low playoff seeding.

“The Warriors have committed to character, to success over the long term, and to sincere human beings who can get them there.”

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Damaged goods? USC basketball recruit Dwayne Shackleford, a junior college All-American point guard from Washington, D.C., who signed with the Trojans in April, had arthroscopic knee surgery after his final game at Allegany (Md.) College.

He is at “about 80%” and should be at full strength by the start of practice in October, according to Trojan Coach Henry Bibby.

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Trivia answer: Lee, who was born in San Francisco and died at age 32 of brain edema in Hong Kong, attended the University of Washington, where he majored in philosophy.

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And finally: Bret Lewis of KFWB found some humor in Sunday’s Briefing item on the Air Force Academy male cheerleader accused of steroid violations.

Said Lewis: “School officials became suspicious when he flipped a female cheerleader in the air ... and she landed in Arizona.”