Shaq Sr.??? Stanley Roberts

I remember when I was just becoming a clipper fanin the early 90's...
Stanley really could dominate a game in stretches

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He was Shaq before Shaq was

By JIM LITKE
.c The Associated Press

Guys like Latrell Sprewell get second chances all the time.

All Stanley Roberts wants is one.

In December, when NBA general managers start scurrying for replacement parts, Roberts wants a chance to prove he's still got game. That should be easy. After all, he was Shaq before Shaq was.

``I'm not trying to brag,'' Roberts said, ``but I could go out right now and dunk on most of the NBA.''

But to get an audition, he'll have to lose weight, finish rehabbing a bad back and shoulder, and pass another half-dozen drug tests. That could prove tougher. Roberts is 32 and until now, he'd never appeared in the same sentence with the words ``self-discipline.''

``I know I made mistakes,'' he said. ``So has everybody else.''

By the end of an eight-year NBA career, his name had become synonymous with wasted talent. Four years ago in Houston, teammate Charles Barkley eyed his spreading waistline and said, ``Stanley Roberts could be great if he learns two words - `I'm full.'''

Next year, after just five games with Philadelphia, Roberts became the first player suspended for a positive drug test under the new contract. He got the maximum - two years.

``I'm not putting that on anybody else, but it was the first time I was in serious trouble. Then I got banned overseas and that really messed me up. I had a deal to play in Turkey for almost a million. It was like somebody cut my legs out from under me.''

But Roberts managed to slink even lower. Houston police, acting on an informant's tip, searched his car and arrested Roberts on narcotics charges. He agreed to a plea bargain that included a 5-year probation and the chance to clear his name.

``That was my low point,'' Roberts said. ``But it's what taught me to grow up.''

Roberts was raised in South Carolina, poor but pampered because of his size and ability. He arrived at Louisiana State a year ahead of Shaquille O'Neal, just as big - 7-foot-1 and 300-plus pounds - and accompanied by more hype.

``Stanley was better, more polished, even stronger,'' said Dale Brown, who coached both at LSU.

``When Shaquille was a freshman, he pulled me aside and said, `You don't need to involve me in the offense. I just want to block shots and rebound.' He always deferred to Stanley,'' Brown said.

Confirmed Roberts, ``If we needed two points at the end of a game, the ball went to me. If we needed three, it went to Chris Jackson. Shaq's job was to get it if we missed.''

Roberts relates this matter-of-factly. Anybody who knows him knows he never brags. His personality flaws take the opposite tack - too unselfish, too easygoing, too contented.

``There's not a devious bone in his body,'' Brown said. ``But there's nothing to switch on, either. Stanley was the toughest guy I ever had to motivate.''

Brown didn't have the opportunity for long. Roberts bombed academically and left school to play in Spain. A year later, he declared himself eligible for the draft and was selected 23rd by Orlando. When the Magic hit the lottery a year later and chose O'Neal, Roberts' NBA odyssey began.

Four years with the Clippers followed, during which Roberts got fat, injured and disillusioned in no particular order. Then came one season each in Minnesota and Houston. He went from being a featured attraction to the fringe, from a full-time center to a part-timer. He could still dominate a game, but only in brief stretches.

``I remember watching him back when he was with the Clippers,'' recalled Carroll Dawson, now the Rockets general manager. ``He played (Hakeem) Olajuwon as good as anybody around.

``Then we acquired him in Houston, and the other thing I remember is everybody loved him. Stanley was never in great shape, but we all pulled for him to be. If he was disciplined, you'd take him in a heartbeat.

Dawson, though, doesn't need a backup center. He just added 7-5 Yao Ming to his roster after Kelvin Cato filled in admirably last year.

``But there's never enough centers to go around,'' Dawson said. ``And maturity comes a little later to some guys. Maybe Stanley has seen the bottom now.''

Maybe.

Friends say Roberts is clean, but nearly broke. He works a few hours each day for a Houston energy company, and performs community service as part of his probation.

The NBA preseason is under way and big men are in demand. Patrick Ewing and Olajuwon are going and gone. Alonzo Mourning is sidelined by medical problems.

``And Vlade Divac is getting old,'' Roberts said. ``When teams are trying to talk (Arvidas) Sabonis out of retirement, well ... there's got to be room for me. Other than Shaq, I don't see anybody I can't match up with for 20 minutes a night.

``Besides,'' he added, ``after what I've been through the last few years, how much tougher can it be?''

Jim Litke is the national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org

10/09/02 03:48 EDT

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