MSNBC: "Complacent Shaq is now irrelevant" (Mark Ventre)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/851169.asp

Complacent Shaq is now irrelevant
Shoddy work ethic has helped ruin Lakers’ big man, for now

COMMENTARY



Dec. 24 — Shaquille O’Neal is irrelevant. Notice I didn’t say he was overrated, useless or incompetent. Men with white jackets would place a net over my head, and I don’t need that. On a given night, he is still capable of being the league’s most dominant player. Ask any general manager if he would be interested in acquiring Shaq, and then hold the phone away from your ear.

BUT RIGHT NOW, in the current NBA, with this particular Lakers team, Shaq is irrelevant.
For all his power, he is powerless. For all his experience, he is trodding on new ground. The player who grouses with disgust when others are mentioned in the same breath with the term “MVP” might as well take a few “DNPs” for all the good he’s doing the Lakers thus far.
Oh, I forgot. He already did that at the start of this season.
Christmas Day is approaching. With it brings the Sacramento Kings to Staples Center for the most eagerly anticipated regular season game in years. And yet, if you’re planning to give Shaq’s performance a theme song to coincide with the occasion, you’d be advised to play “Silent Night.”
In fact, despite the colossal yuletide clash between last year’s Western Conference finalists, basketball fans are buzzing one name and one name only:
Yao Ming.
Like the Christmas toy every kid wants, Yao Ming is the center of choice right now among fans, media, coaches and players alike.
Yao is the future. Shaq is the past.

Yao is The Man of the Hour. Shaq is yesterday’s news.
Yes, I know we’re supposed to be focusing on the Sacramento Kings here, but in a roundabout way, we are. The Kings feel they got robbed by the striped shirts in last year’s conference finals. They want to beat the Lakers like a Christmas pinada.
But since the end of last season, the team that has stolen the spotlight is the Houston Rockets, because their center has invigorated them. Their center has infused a franchise and a city with hope. Their center has shown leadership ability.
Shaq, meanwhile, comes into the Sacramento-at-Staples imbroglio with a grim expression and a dim outlook. He can’t seem to extricate the Lakers from their current quagmire.
Just look at the Lakers’ most recent outing. They needed overtime Sunday to defeat the Toronto Raptors, who were without starters Vince Carter and Antonio Davis, arguably their two best players. Despite the victory, they looked as shabby at times as they have in some of their worst losses. The Lakers are 11-18; only the Golden State Warriors are lower than they in the Pacific Division.
True, Shaq had 31 points and 15 boards in the game. But the Lakers’ defense starts with him, and he shunned that responsibility. The Toronto Raptors, without their leading scorer, should not be laying 102 points on the world champs through regulation.
Also, Shaq’s free throw follies continue. On Sunday, he was 7 for 18 from the line — 1 for 10 at halftime — but the Lakers survived. On Friday night, in a loss at Philadelphia, they did not, as Shaq hit only 8 of 19 on the night, and clanked six in the fourth period, including two with about 30 seconds left that might have won it for L.A.
Oh, by the way. Yao Ming? He’s making 79 percent of his free throws. The Rockets are 15-11.
The Sacramento Kings are coming to Los Angeles with a 22-8 record, second only to the Dallas Mavericks. The Kings had a rash of key injuries to start the season also, just like the Lakers, but somehow they managed to pull together instead of falling apart. You can be sure the Kings will play their best basketball on Christmas Day against the Lakers, because they’ve been waiting for this one for a long while. You can also be sure that predicting which Lakers team will show up on Wednesday is a complete crapshoot.
It all starts with Shaq.
He has been beaten up with the allegation that his decision to postpone foot surgery until September is the reason for the Lakers’ wretched start, so I won’t add to the carnage.
No, Shaq has a bigger problem, and it has infected the rest of the team:
Complacency.
He has always been this way. In the old days, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson would spend their offseasons feverishly working to improve their games. They pined for the start of the regular season. They were human, and they endured bouts of lethargy, but they found ways to refresh themselves and they fought through them.
Shaq is big on reminding people what he’s done. He’s quick to point out who is The Man. He belittles the Spurs’ big men. He mocks “The Sacramento Queens.” He publicly called out Yao Ming, suggesting in an early season interview, “Tell him Shaqzilla is coming!”
What Shaq doesn’t do is work fanatically to maximize his own potential. There is no better example than his free throw shooting. He has said many times: “I’ll make ‘em when I have to.”
Oh yeah? What about Friday night?
Shaq enjoys his reputation as the baddest man in the league. He just doesn’t enjoy maintaining it. If you buy a great house, and you let it rot, it’s not a great house anymore.

In Shaq’s case, he is ruining his entire neighborhood. The Lakers won three championships in three years. That means lots of extra postseason games. That means when you’re about to try for four, you’d better be mentally and physically prepared. That means teams like San Antonio and Dallas and especially Sacramento, who were gunning for you before, are meaner and more ambitious in hunting you down this time.
That’s why Shaq’s surgery shenanigans couldn’t have been more poorly timed. If you’re the leader of your team, you should understand that.
Lackluster. Flat. Uninspired. Complacent. It all emanates from Shaq’s belief that he has established himself as the best in the land. But sports are the ultimate “What have you done for me lately?” profession, and Shaq should realize that he isn’t the best anymore. He has to prove himself all over again. And he’s failing.
Call him The Big Irrelevant.