Woman Killed in O’Neal Home

A housekeeper was stabbed to death at the Sugar Land, Texas, home of Shaquille O’Neal’s first child, Taahirah, on Friday.

O’Neal’s former girlfriend, Arnette Yarborough, discovered the body of Alice Williams in the kitchen, according to O’Neal’s business manager, Mike Parris. O’Neal’s daughter, 8-year-old Taahirah, was in school at the time.

Williams’ son, Tristan, 18, was arrested and charged with murder.

Parris said Yarborough heard the mother and son arguing and that when she entered the kitchen, Tristan held a knife. Yarborough fled to call the police, according to Parris, then returned to find the mother badly injured.

O’Neal owns the home in suburban Houston, Associated Press reported. Parris notified O’Neal of the stabbing Friday afternoon. “Shaquille is extremely upset,” Parris said before Friday night’s game. “His heart goes out to the family.” After the game, O’Neal declined to comment.

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Phil Jackson is in the final year of his contract and has said he would not coach for another organization, so he has made a point of cementing his memories of certain NBA towns.

In San Antonio, for instance, he said with a wry smile that he’d visited the green river and ordered some tacos. In Minneapolis, Jackson would not nudge the locals.

“I’m gentle on these people,” he said, “because they’re my home stock.”

Jackson was born in Montana and raised in North Dakota and is making himself at home here. To begin a pregame news conference, Jackson sat down, pulled a wad of gum from his mouth and stuck it on a Fox Sports Net microphone.

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Before Game 1, Jackson said Kobe Bryant had been particularly “vigilant” as a leader this week and “probably as focused as he’s been in three years,” though he missed Monday’s practice, according to the team, because of a sore throat.

Bryant’s zeal is a good thing, Jackson said, considering that “we definitely are a team that has a tendency to get fat and lazy,” words Bryant used to describe O’Neal in his preseason rant to ESPN.

“I think [Bryant] sees the end,” Jackson said. “I think he sees the goal.”

Asked if he believed Bryant was thinking bigger, as in his final days as a Laker, Jackson said, “That’s his territory. I don’t want to overstep my bounds.”

Of Jackson’s observations, Bryant shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I think he’s finally just paying attention to me.”