http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-000037199may26.column Mark Heisler: The NBA <font size=5>Hard Season Weighs Heavily on O'Neal</font> <i>"I'm comfortable where I'm at. I'm 345, 14% body fat. I'm not going to get any smaller. If it ever comes to a point to where I can't do it anymore, then I'll just retire. Nobody plays forever. I've been in this raggedy league for 10 years now and if it ever gets to where I don't want to work out, where I don't feel like working out, then I'll just have other things to fall back on." </i> --Shaquille O'Neal last week The Big (Fill in the Blank) at the crossroads.... It was a rough season for the local jolly giant, who wasn't as jolly, if more gigantic. But aren't they all? By objective standards, he should be on top of the world. He's rich, he's famous, he has a nice family life, he's on a powerhouse team with a fellow superstar as his sidekick. It's a great life, except for when he feels put upon by opponents pounding on him, opponents flopping, referees protecting opponents, the league changing the rules to thwart him and the media for everything they do, not to mention the occasional snit with Phil Jackson. Of course, that was most of this season. One of his nicknames in the dressing room—out of earshot, anyway—is the Big Moody. This season was particularly trying for him and, consequently, everyone around him. After coming in heavy last season and playing his way into shape, he vowed to come back at 290, his rookie weight. But when he began working out, the little toe on his left foot flared up, requiring surgery. There went his summer. Then in the fall, his right big toe began hurting, meaning he couldn't practice. So much for playing his way into shape. Nobody can say for sure his weight caused his injuries, but, on the other hand, it couldn't have helped. Moreover, he just turned 30. Injuries no longer heal overnight, nor can he eat whatever he wants without gaining weight. Not that he seems to feel like making any more promises to change at the moment. It's not a question of falling from grace. He has already secured his place in this league. It is a question of whether he goes back to his old level, rather than his current one ... and how much fun he has doing it ... and how long he feels like staying around to do it. He has been telling teammates lately it'll be two more seasons and out, but despite myriad annoyances, this is his world now. Recognition, withheld for so long, has gone beyond anything he ever hoped for. The question is no longer whether he's the NBA's most dominating player—everyone concedes that—but whether he's the most dominating who ever played. <B>Even people who go back to Wilt Chamberlain now have O'Neal ahead of everyone. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Shaquille is the best center to ever play the game," said Jerry West, who played with Chamberlain, coached Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, signed O'Neal and never said anything like it before. "You feel kind of bad saying that because of Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt, but I just don't see anyone else with the whole package like him, now or ever." Says Pete Newell, the big man's guru: "I've never seen anyone like Shaq. I've never seen anyone with better hands. I haven't seen a man that big with better footwork. How many of the best centers had the spin move? ... None of them." </b> Even in a sub-par season, O'Neal was third in the MVP race—while coaches and general managers around the league noted the voting didn't necessarily have anything to do with real life. "We talk about who should be the MVP, but it should be Shaq," said Buck General Manager Ernie Grunfeld at midseason. While promoting his own Tracy McGrady, Orlando Coach Doc Rivers added, "But let's face it, you could vote for Shaq every year." Not that O'Neal's gig isn't harder than it looks. You may think for $25 million a year, you could handle it, but then there's the scrutiny, which even got to Michael Jordan, who became obsessed with disproving anything anyone said about him. (Kobe Bryant is a notable exception. When they were feuding, it was always O'Neal who got mad first. Bryant was so much into his own trip, he barely knew Shaq was there. With Bryant, it's rarely personal but with Shaq, it usually is.) Despite the Lakers' predicament, this is actually a better time for O'Neal, whose mood lifts as the end nears. In the conference finals—but not before—he starts going to the interview room, where he's so engaging. He made last season's all-interview second team, a signal honor for one who speaks so infrequently. Nevertheless, he's limited and embarrassed about it. He tiptoes through first quarters, warming up his sore feet or pacing his large self, especially at home, which is why the Lakers are having trouble. He's especially keen to make sure the media understands he's hurting, as he was in San Antonio, or being shortchanged, as when he was called for those charging fouls in Sacramento, as opposed to being outplayed by anyone, as if someone doubted it. Last week, bristling at a suggestion, which only he had divined, that Vlade Divac had somehow gotten the better of him in Game 2, he told writers: "Sometimes, I think you guys insult me by not writing what you see." Here's what I see. These are the good times and when they're gone, you can't imagine how much you're going to miss this raggedy league. Faces and Figures <b>Despite widespread skepticism about Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets, who drew the first pick, are signaling they will, indeed, select him. Chicago is a lock to take Jay Williams, so that's two spots nailed down.... What, us disappointed? The New York Knicks, who were acting as if they already owned Yao's rights, are now cheerily preparing to choose seventh. General Manager Scott Layden: "We could easily have lost ground so you look at it positively. We didn't hurt ourselves today. The draft has the potential to go beyond seven." Of course, they're still interested in trading for No. 1, if the Rockets will take that Latrell Sprewell-Marcus Camby package everyone else has been turning down for years. </B> How I spent my summer: Despite wowing everyone in the postseason, rookie Tony Parker had to carry David Robinson's shoes, pictures and basketballs to the car when the San Antonio Spurs cleaned out their lockers. "Tony can't forget who he is," Robinson said. "He can't forget his place. If I see him during the summer, he's still mine. When next season starts, he's officially not obligated anymore." ... Despite the heat Divac gets, the fact is everyone flops now. Referees are falling for it, calling charges as long as the defender makes it look good by falling backward. Says Seattle's Desmond Mason, an artist in only his second season: "A lot of big guys see a smaller guy on him so what they want to do is bang him. They want to take a hard dribble, get up under and try to jump up and dunk on him. So what I do is I hold my ground and when they make that power dribble, I take that blow.... You can flop. I'm not going to say that it's all a charge. The guy is hitting me hard but he isn't hitting me hard enough where I can't stand my ground and take that shot. You got to put a little Hollywood in it." The SuperSonics, in rebuilding mode, are signaling they won't re-sign Gary Payton, 34 in July, whose agent announced he wants a contract extension before next season. "Not once did he say anything to me about his extension," Coach Nate McMillan said after Payton's exit interview. "I expect him to honor his contract. I expect him to be here next year." ... They're off to a rough summer in Denver, which was hoping to land Larry Brown, who now looks as if he'll actually stay in Philadelphia. No Brown probably means no Antonio McDyess, who'll be a free agent in 2003 and already looked as though he was halfway out the door, having told Sports Illustrated's Ian Thomsen: "I won't say that I'm definitely leaving, but I'm not getting younger." Nor does McDyess seem keen on the Nuggets' request that he help them recruit free agents. "What do I tell them?" he asked. "I can't sell them on us winning because we haven't won. I can't sell them on the weather or the tax [breaks] because it's not Florida or Texas." ... Memphis University Coach John Calipari, who had signed junior college star Qyntel Woods, said teams at the bottom of the NBA draft were inflating his prospects, hoping to entice him to come out. "See," said Calipari, "what I did was I went public and said that if he's not a top-five pick then he's coming with us. And then what did he become? A top-five pick. But you're not going to fool Vanesia [Woods' mother]. They know what's going on." ... After that, Woods declared for the draft, along with freshman Dajuan Wagner, Calipari's star, and junior Chris Massie, his starting power forward.
Of course, they're still interested in trading for No. 1, if the Rockets will take that Latrell Sprewell-Marcus Camby package everyone else has been turning down for years. LOL, I think Layden has finally faced the fact that he is an absolute moron.
i still gotta go with Wilt, purely because he played in a much lesser diluted league and faced much stiffer competition night after night... hell he had to deal with Russell throughout his career! O'Neal had Olajuwon, Ewing, and Robinson early on... but now??? guys like Ostertag, Cato, and LaFrentz!
Why did NY get Layden to begin with? The man was a moron when he was with the Jazz. The Jazz were always good, but he was never able to sign another player that would put them over the top.
come on pete, no one with a spin move? how can you possibly not think of hakeem, who for my money had the best footwork of any center ever. granted shaq is larger and thus his footwork is quite impressive but hakeem was just nasty. as for most dominant, how can it be anybody else but wilt. i'm not necessarily calling him better than shaq b/c his competition was weaker in the early years (much like shaq's now) but i think of domination as how much better you were than the people you played against. no one was more dominant than wilt plain and simple. shaq is damn dominant but he ain't puttin' up 50 pts or 28 rebs for a whole season either.
shaq has better footwork than hakeem? c'mon shaq is the whole package and dream isn't? WOW this is what is known as riding the lakers(shaq's) jock strap. it pisses me off that hakeem is never mentioned, ever. did the whole decade of the 90's never happen, with the exception of his airness? this man dismantled double teams, triple teams, quadruple teams, i mean he destroyed other nba hall of fame centers, something shaq can never ever say. hakeem could spin circles around shaq daddy.
Francis4P, I think it's because Dream was considered more of a finesse player in his heyday. He was labeled as a prototype center who played like a power forward. We all know that Dream can dunk, but I rarely remembered him powering over some guy for a dunk against equal or superior opposition. Maybe Pete Newell's comment was because Shaq is in a size category of his own. This dude listed 340 pounds this season... Yeah, Shaq can overpower just from his sheer size, but he also has some solid array of cheesy layups and hooks that he can make consistently. And I think the Wilt and Shaq comparisons are unfair because of improved scouting and trick defences that the opposing coaches now have. Just my two cents...
It's SIZE that MATTERS!!!! Vlade went down like a whipped puppy against Shaq! Who cares about ol'timers anyway...that was then...
Wilt was and always will be the most dominant player ever. Jerry West played with Wilt later in his career. Earlier in his career, when he was with the Sixers, Wilt could run a sub 10-second hundred meters and jump more than 50 inches off the ground. Shaq can't do that. He could never do that. Wilt was so dominant during that 50-point season, he actually stopped scoring as much as he could because he was embarrassed about it. Throughout his career, Wilt was trying to prove that big men could do more than just sit under the basket, so he led the league in assists and shot turnaround fadeaway 15-footers off the glass to prove his point: "He hit on all those jumpers. Yes, Wilt hit on those jumpers... Wilt did come into the league with a good touch from the outside, which made his early scoring that much more significant. He wasn't just dunking the ball then."--Red Holzman, Knicks Coach. "What hurt me was that I wanted to be a consummate basketball player, and I wanted to be able to shoot the ball instead of just taking it to the basket and dunk it like I should have. I was shooting fadeaway shots, hook shots, finger-rolls... whatever came to my mind that I thought would be pleasing. A lot of times that was a negative more than a positive." --Wilt Chamberlain "I remember in January one day I had about 55 points and I said to myself, 'You know what? I'm building a monster year. If I don't watch myself, I'll be averaging 55 points a game... and the next year they're going to want me to average 65 points a game! What am I doing?' So I really, honestly pulled back and stopped trying to score... though I did score 100 points about a month later. I actually said to myself, 'Slow down here, just pass the ball off or do something else but no more points,' because its like you give them a hand, they want your arm, that type of thing. (laughs) I became really fearful that maybe I was asking for problems for myself by scoring so many points. I wanted to be more balanced... I wanted to be a consummate basketball player." --Wilt Chamberlain, on his 50 point season "That season, I averaged 24.5 rebounds a game and almost 24 points a game. I was shooting a lot better percentage because I was taking much more sensible shots. I wasn't relied upon to score points. Alex Hannum went to the press one time and told them to write a story that I couldn't score anymore. A couple of other guys had gotten hurt on the team and he was trying to motivate me to score more points. But I was in the mode of being happy with scoring 20 or 22, so he let the story leak out that I lost my scoring ability. He had this one crazy guy who always said, "Wilt, you can't score anymore, what's wrong?" There were big headlines, "Wilt can't score anymore!" So I went out the next three games I got 62 one game, 55 one game and 48 one game." --Wilt Chamberlain, on his play with the '67 Sixers Wilt was trying to prove big men could be more than a Shaq-type player. Finally, in the last year of his career, Wilt decided to play like the typical center and dunk every time, and he ended up shooting 72.7% for an entire season. Shaq's accomplishments are simply nowhere close to Chamberlain's. "Wilt was one of the greatest ever, and we will never see another one like him." --Kareem Abdul-Jabbar "He always did what his employer wanted. No star athlete has ever given his boss more for the money than Wilt did during his career. Eddie Gottlieb [owner of the Warriors] wanted Wilt to score like no man ever had, so Wilt did. [Alex] Hannum and some of his other coaches wantedhim to pass and play defense, so he did that and he played 48 minutes a night. Those who criticized Wilt -- first for his scoring, then for not scoring more -- really should have criticized his employer." --Leonard Koppett
I dunno if Shaq is all that, he gets so many calls or no calls when he's on offense bowling someone over or elbowing them into submission that it's ridiculous. They call hockey games tighter than this. Oh yeah, Wilt is still the best ever.
First of all that lakers_r_god guy sounds like some 14 year old kid who got onto the laker bandwagon. While shaq is dominating I dont think he is the most dominant. Shaq gets away with the most calls since a certain #23 donned a red and white jersey. Also Shaq I dont think really has the basketball IQ like Bird, Magic and Jordan did and you need that to be a consistent winner. Personally I dont think Wilt was the most dominant. Yes he did put up very very impressive numbers and has many records that still stand today. He is one of the greatest players in the top 5 for sure, but only two of his fingers arent naked. That seems quite odd because if he was the most dominant player more fingers would be covered. Considering that he really only got one ring during his hey-day (another with the Lakers in his later years if I remember correctly) makes me to believe that he is a great but not dominant player. Personally I would go with Bill Russell. He put up great numbers, not as good as Wilt but he himself said that he would give Wilt what he wanted as long as the celtics were winning. In essence Wilt won battles, but Russell won the wars. Russell did what it took to win, and that is dominance. Much like how magic, bird and jordan did it. But Russell has 11, yes 11 rings and I believe in only 13 seasons too. If winning is dominance there is no way anyone can argue with that stat. 11/13 is almost 85%. That is amazing.
Best footwork and hands.............??? I bet the writer wants to take that one back. Anyway, as there really isn't another Center out there, Divac being the closest thing, shouldn't Shaq be dominating more? And it's really impossible to compare different generation of basketball players.
Feast your eyes on hisBaby Blue Eyes for another 4 years. He has it set. He knows what people think of him. He knows that until another Hakeen Olajawon can step into the league and dominate him, there's no reason to risk a life threatening toe illness over a little game of basketball.
Since The_Yoyo brought up Russell as being more dominant than Wilt, I'll do my little rant on that A. Russell's teams were better. 1. Russell's teammates were more skilled: Not many will argue the fact that Russell's teammates were superior to those of Chamberlain. Part of the reason was that Wilt got paid such a huge amount of money, far more than anyone else was getting. This was when players had to have an off-season job to stay afloat, but Wilt had it made for money. "I came into the league making $5,200 and left making $15,000- that's after 10 years." -- Al Bianchi. "We had real summer jobs- mine was in construction." -- Oscar Robertson. All the times Wilt was traded were simply because his team couldn't pay him, not because they wanted to lose him. He was making 6 figures while most others were making 5, or even 4. You could call that Wilt's fault. He always demanded a high salary, akin to Jordan's $36 million in his final year with the Bulls. Anyway, the inevitable result was that Wilt was always surrounded by inferior talent, while Auerbach was a very skilled recruiter, and didn't have to pay Russell as much. 2. The Celtics had superior coaching. "In our era, the best coaches were Red Auerbach, Fred Schaus, and Alex Hannum. Most of the other guys were drinking buddies of the general manager and never taught you a thing." -- Larry Staverman. The fact is, most of the other coaches didn't know how to coach. "We taught ourselves to shoot, and a lot of us picked up bad habits... I also believe that weight training helps shooters... but when we played, they told us that if we lifted weights, we'd mess up our shots." -- Jerry Lucas. Red Auerbach has been described as "light-years ahead of his time (in coaching)." One key example is that Auerbach started training camp way before anyone else. As a result, the Celtics were the only ones in shape early in the season, and got a lot of wins early (34-4 in 1960, 29-5 in 1962, 25-5 in 1964, and 31-7 in 1965). Auerbach was one of the few coaches who knew what he was doing. B. Wilt was limited by his self-image and his own dominance. "Early in his career, Wilt so dominated the game that it hurt his teammates. They just passed him the ball and watched." -- Wayne Embry. And in the year Wilt averaged 50, Hot Rod Hundley saw Tom Gola throwing the ball against the wall in the Warriors' dressing room. When he asked Gola what he was doing, Gola responded, "Practicing our offense- throw the ball to Wilt and then stand there." Wilt either did not realize or did not want to realize that his scoring dominance hurt the team concept early on. But most of all, Wilt always had something to prove. "Wilt was too consumed with records: being the first center to lead the league in assists, or to set a record for field goal %." -- Jerry Lucas. "Wilt was the strongest man ever to play basketball, but (because of the big-man stereotype) he always took a fallaway jumper. It was the damndest thing. He played basketball the hard way. For that reason alone, he couldn't carry Russell's jock. If Wilt had consistently driven to the basket, he'd have scored 200 in a game." --Charley Eckman. Russell gave it his all every night; he only thought about the winning. That's the best attitude to have. But all this evidence points to the fact that while Wilt may have been more concerned with his individual effort and public image, he was capable of dominating like Russell never could. Even on defense, teammates said that Wilt would often not block a shot he was perfectly capable of blocking because he wanted to grab it in mid-air. Russell would softly tap it to a teammate for a fast-break instead. C. Russell never carried an offense; Wilt did. Russell could very well be the most dominating defensive player ever. Wilt was almost equally dominating. "Wilt and Russell were getting 8-10 blocks a game for most of their careers." -- Earl Strom. Russell was also a decent scorer, because he was big and athletic, but Russell never had a shot or any great offensive moves. Most of his points were easy dunks. Wilt took both the offense and the defense on his shoulders. He could shoot out to 15 feet, and his huge hops and athletic ability let him get around or over anybody. Double teams bothered him not at all, and neither did fouls. Bob Ferry admitted that he used to "push him in the stomach when he went up for a shot," while Wayne Embry said, "Forget pushing. I almost gave him a karate chop to the stomach. Half the time, he acted like he never felt it." Conclusion: Did Russell win more championships? Yes. Does that mean that Russell was more dominating? No. Russell benefitted from better teammates and better coaching. Wilt dominated on both ends of the floor, and in far more ways than Russell did. Wilt's self-image actually held him back from being even more dominant. The fact that Wilt was a little self-centered in that respect does not detract from his dominance. Russell was the most dominant role-player ever; Wilt was the most dominant superstar. Baylor, Stockton, and Malone don't have any rings, and they are some of the best ever.
