Although I've never been a Shaquille O'Neal fan, I do have respect for his abilities. That is why I am so astonished by the outpouring of Laker ingratitude. For instance, in a story out of Miami: About 3,000 miles west, there have been no such offers emanating from the Lakers regarding O'Neal's departure. In fact, one local radio host, Roger Lodge, has called for the public burning of O'Neal's Lakers jersey, while another has bid the Big Diesel good riddance. Since he will no longer be privy to the knee-scraping deference referees give the Lakers, I wonder if O'Neal will be allowed to make the same bull rush charges without being awarded a foul rather than a foul shot. Will the references continue to extend the Laker privilege to him? That will be interesting to watch, but I still can't believe the lack of respect by Los Angeles for a man that handed three referee-aided titles to them on a silver platter.
Here is a minor point first. Radio hosts are supposed to be inflammatory. I don't know how the majority of L.A. news outlets and fans have reacted to Shaq and maybe you do, but I'm not going to assume a couple quotes from a Miami paper of a couple radio guys reflects the majority of Lakers fans. On the other hand, if you are a Lakers fan, are you supposed to be happy that Shaq demanded a trade out of L.A.? How did you feel when it seemed like Dream didn't want to be in Houston? It's not implausible to me that at least some Lakers fans aren't particularly happy with Shaq right now.
Roger Lodge the Blind Date guy?? edit: If Dream were to leave Houston after the two championships because he did not feel the team was going in the right way or for anything, I'm one fan who would not hold it against him
Considering they also allowed the "bull rushes" with the Magic, I don't see why it should change much.
The LA Times has been slamming the Lakers about it. Almost every opinion piece they have talks about how stupid the Lakers are for trading O'Neal.
Here's some letters to the LA Times: VIEWPOINT LETTERS Laker Fans Still Feel Heat From Breakup LETTERS TO THE EDITOR I was saddened by the sight of a Shaquille O'Neal Miami Heat No. 32 jersey. The only thing that made me feel better was knowing I would soon see a Laker No. 8 jersey dunking on it. Monte Whaley Redondo Beach * How sad is it that two superstars, Kobe Bryant and Shaq O'Neal, could not coexist, and … likewise, how poor were the management skills of Mitch Kupchak and Jerry Buss who chose to pick sides rather than mediate. I feel sorry for Karl Malone. He could have bowed out by grabbing the brass ring, but the carousel was overburdened with the weight of two huge egos and inferior leadership. Finally, how smart was Derek Fisher to jump off, and how desperate was Divac to jump back on. Kind of reminds me of the Dallas Cowboys in the mid-'90s when the "J-Boys" chose to individually dig in their heels — and look what happened? Gary Engstrom Mission Viejo * The Lakers lost a center who constantly complained he was underpaid and not appreciated, who blamed everyone else when the team lost and demanded to have the ball all the time. They signed a center who complains about nothing, plays team basketball and doesn't clog the middle. So, what's not to like? Ralph S. Brax Lancaster * The Lakers had one of the best centers of all time, shipped him out to pacify the most egotistical guard of all time, and what do we get in return? One of the worst centers of all time: Floppy Divac. William Winkler Sunland * Vlade a Laker again? That's worse than trading Shaq. Cindy Eyster La Canada * Let's not forget who owns the Lakers. Dr. Buss makes the final decision on all Laker changes. The Times' sportswriters have continued to blame Kobe for all the changes that have taken place over the last two weeks, in spite of the owner stating that it was his decision to fire Phil Jackson and trade Shaq. I personally feel that it was a good decision because they both allowed greed to overshadow the welfare of the team. Veatrice LeBlanc Los Angeles * Shaq is fond of giving himself nicknames. How about "The Big Mirage." During his last two seasons with the Lakers, his physical skills had only diminished slightly. His desire, however, diminished greatly. He didn't care about making free throws, playing defense, going for rebounds, moving on offense without the ball or being in top physical condition. This was most evident during the debacle in Detroit, where he showed up for one game plus one quarter. The rest of the time he pulled off the greatest disappearing act since the Great Houdini. Ronald Levine Van Nuys * I saw that Shaq took out a full-page ad in a Miami newspaper expressing his love for Miami fans. I hear that Kobe finally decided to sign with the Lakers after doing "what's best for me and my family." In neither case did I hear the players utter one word of thanks to L.A. fans for all their support. In fact, the only time I read about a Laker player thanking the fans was when Derek Fisher said his tearful goodbye. You're welcome, Derek. Too bad your sense of class didn't run off on your two ex-teammates. Paul Haddad Los Angeles * The blame on Kobe for the Lakers' problems is overblown. The ultimate decision-maker and check signer, Jerry Buss, jets off to Italy. The coach — if that's what you call him — Phil Jackson, states he might be willing to stay for only $10 million to $12 million a year and 32-year-old — and showing it — Shaq will stay if his two-year contract is extended three more years at $30 million per. There is more than enough greed to go around. Gary A. Robb Los Feliz * As a die-hard Laker fan for the last 24 years, I always enjoyed disliking the Celtics and Pistons in the '80s and the Jazz in the '90s. I particularly remember disliking the man that I now have the utmost respect for — Karl Malone. While others talk the talk (Shaq, Kobe), Karl walks the walk. He is the epitome of team, hard-work, integrity and unselfishness — both on and off the court. While others talk about wanting to be on a "team" while asking for $30 million a season, Malone defers some of his well-earned money in order for us to get a center. If I had to buy a Laker jersey for a family member or myself, the only one I would consider is No. 11. Luis Alvarez Valencia * There are two types of basketball fans. One type will mourn the leaving of a 7-foot-1, 360-pound center whose greatness is pounding his opponents under the basket, then reaching up and dunking the ball. The other type will enjoy a five-man team, running, passing, driving, cutting, shooting the way basketball was meant to be played, as in Detroit. Sid Lazarow Orange * Now that we have to face the fact that Vlade is on our side again, maybe we could take up a collection to get him some good acting lessons. After all, Staples is very close to Hollywood. Bryan Wiedeman San Clemente * Let me be the first to change my tune when Shaq faces Vlade. "Charge all the way." Ron Perez Indio
This "good riddance" and "fat Shaq" theme seemed more rampant on the Laker boards in which I was lurking last week. The reason I was interested was to compare their treatment of O'Neal with our treatment of Hakeem when he left for the Raptors.
I think Aesop wrote that 'sour grapes' fable about 300 BC so the reaction in LA is pretty much standard human nature.
We'll see LA pull a 180 when Miami outplays them next season. They won't be seeing any more rings with Kobe running the show.
I think Olajuwon is a great comparison. It struck me as jilted-lover syndrome. When the fans feel they were rejected by their respective centers, they turned on them making sure to degrade the man in any way possible: disloyal, greedy, old, over the hill, fat, incapable of winning; even going so far as to rewrite history to remove any credit they may have gotten in the past. Same thing has happened with Eddie Griffin even.
If i recall, Olajowan did not have two years remaining on his contract, nor did he DEMAND a trade from Houston and was at the end of his career. Toronto gave him too much money (over too many years), a chance at playoffs (or so they thought) and possibly a different role with the team. Shaq left for the same money, from a team on which he was still the go-to player, that had just been to the finals. Yet some were still bitter at Dream. Not quite a fair comparison.
Of the 6 things you list, the 3rd, 4th, and 6th applied to Hakeem. The 1st and 5th clearly were not true. The 2nd was debatable. Shaq's problem is that he demands full extension at his current pay level, which is at about 30 million a year. Once he voiced that demand, I knew his days as a Laker was numbered. Those who think the Lakers are stupid to trade "one of the best centers of all time" ignore the financial side of the move. I don't know if Miami will give him that kind of extension. They will be stupid if they do. Pat Riley is a shrewd guy. My guess is that he will give Shaq some very short term deal, no more than 2 years at a time. If Shaq refuses, he can always go out and explore the FA market and see if the GMs see him as "old, over the hill, fat, incapable of winning" etc.
Of those 6, the only one I haven't heard applied in this BBS to Dream was fat, though there were plenty of people complaining he wasn't taking good care of his body. Really, his only issue was injury. But a lot of posters here turned on him in a big way when he wanted to go to Toronto and hung all these labels on him that weren't remotely true. I can be proud at least that no one tried to give credit for the championships to Robery Horry instead of him. People in LA will soon be remembering how Kobe Bryant won those championships despite the team-breaking antics Shaq was always pulling, like wanting to have the ball in the low-post all the time.
From the radio call-ins in LA, my estimate is that about 40% blame Kobe for the breakup, 25 % blame Shaq, 30% blame both, and a few blame the Lakers management. It seems to me that the Lakers management were in a catch 22 situation. They weren't gonna keep Shaq, due to financial reasons I mentioned. So they had to try to keep Kobe to stay competitive. And Kobe knew it and milk the situation to the disgusting extent. In the end, Phil Jackson was also run out of town. The Lakers could, of course, call their bluff, keeping Shaq and daring Kobe to leave. But the result could be losing Kobe for nothing and Shaq still complaining for his contract and Phil still leaving. No matter what they did, the evil triangle of Phil, Shaq, and Kobe was doomed to be broken up. And I'm glad.
