http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7200821/shaq-uncut-my-story Does anyone sympathize with Shaq on this one? This is a guy getting paid 20 Million dollars complaining about being in shape, being professional, following coaches rules, he single handedly destroyed Riley's culture that builds championships. If anyone thinks or tries to compare this to some slave ownership bull**** that is sad. Riley and other coaches are not the owners, they are paid members of the team who have a roll to define roles and set a culture, players are other employees who play under them. Reading some of this crap just made me that much more on the side of owners that players have no accountability, they can mess up chemistry, decide not to play hard, not to play at all, be out of shape, be unprofessional, and they are still getting full millions of pay checks. Even they can say no to a trade as well and then put a knife upto the franchise. But it is sad shaq has no remorse. This guy is one of the most egotistical childish players I have ever seen and his book which under his tone he seems to bragging just emphasizes that and makes me lose that much more respect for him and how delusional he is on his own actions. He is the last type of star I would ever want on my team regardless of how talented he is. Hell win games, just like james incredibly talented, but I just dont like their approach and character towards games(he mentioned adn it is documented how James was not allowed to be criticized, never listened to coach, did what he wanted, controlled personell moves, broke team rules regularly). Now bryant is not an easy guy to deal with, he can be selfish on the court and damn near impossible to coach if he doesnt trust you, but you better believe his only goal is winning over celebrity etc(while money is still always important). You know he is going to come into training camp with new moves, gunning, in shape, and ready to kill. His drive is his own along with MJ, bird and those guys and you don't have to question that and that is the type of guy I am comfortable giving my franchise keys to and giving 20 million, regardless of how unlikeable they can be as well. That is what I want to be the driving force of my franchise.
I've never understood why fans like him. Even in pro sports, a business filled with egomaniacs, the guy set a new standard for narcissism, but he won so everyone forgave him.
There were times I thought he was funny or likeable, but overall he just seems like a giant baby who can't take criticism, or anyone standing in his spotlight. If anyone does he attacks them and points fingers. I remember just all the hype yao got and didn't sit well with shaq(rightfully so he shouldn't be compared in the same light, but you are a grown adult shaq) and shaq through elbows and started mocking him in chinese. And as an elder statesmen of the league he made such a big deal of dwight being called superman and even dwight said i would never disrespect shaq i look upto him im sad hes treating me the next generation like that. And this article just emphasizes that, he goes on to tell the teammates do you think he would treat magic johnson like that. Because magic johnson showed up in shape and ready to win no questions asked unlike his fatas*
I can sympathize with anyone who played for Riles. Shaq should know this, but Riley was VERY hard on Magic and other Lakers when he coached there. He was criticized for being too hard on the players. Shaq should ask Magic, who has talked about it. But the body fat thing in Miami was over-the-top, even for Riles. At the same time, I have little doubt Shaq helped to destroy the culture on the Heat after they won the championship. Giving him $20 million/year was a huge mistake the Heat didn't recover from.
In LA, Shaq developed a sneaky habit of nursing injuries to help get/skip through the 82 game season. Toss in that he completely quit bothering with offseason workouts shortly after leaving the Magic, and it's no shock that the Lakers first championship (2000) was the last time in his career he came close to playing 80 games in a season. Averaged 60 games a season for his career. But that tells you how insanely dominant he was that he could basically slack off and still play 20 years in the NBA and collect several rings along the way. If he had dedicated himself to staying in top shape and keeping up his conditioning to be active on defense, he'd absolutely go down as the greatest big to ever play the game. Without putting the effort? He's still indisputably top 10 and probably top 5. Pretty amazing.
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The Heat along with the refs help, nickle and dimed their way to a championship in 06. Kobe was right all along
I don't think its pretty amazing. His accomplishments are impressive, but it goes to show what his potential was and proportionally for his own potential, he didn't squeeze what he could and can't respect that
I never liked Shaq, on the court or off the court. I agree 100% with what the writer said about guys like Shaq and Lebron, throw Melo to that list as well. They sell tcikets and jerseys but bring too much nuisances and disturbances to a team, not to mention the "me me me" attitude. Id much rather have a Kobe or Durant.
Huh? Kobe is not a "me me me" attitude guy? he didnt bring nuisances and disturbances to his team? Kobe is like Shaq, so thats why their egos couldnt fit in one team, and thats why the relationship exploded.
