"It was a radiant night in Miami, the city's trendiest restaurant bristling with energy as wealthy South Beach patrons and their entourages nibbled on sautéed Hudson Valley foie gras and Hawaiian bigeye tuna tartare.

Then Lakers center Andrew Bynum walked through the door. Alone.

He grabbed a table in the corner, chatted pleasantly with a few women at the next table and ate briskly. Then he left, stepping out into the South Beach night the same way he arrived.

The largest player on the Lakers, seven feet tall and close to 300 pounds, couldn't be any more different from the one who held his post a decade ago.

When Shaquille O'Neal arrived in Los Angeles in 1996, he wrapped his arms around as many people as possible. He was everywhere, handing out gifts as a giant Santa in the winter, enjoying cigars on city sidewalks in the summer, always clowning around with anybody who approached him.

People were fascinated by O'Neal, who broke basketball backstops with his forceful dunks and popped up in a slew of TV commercials and movies.

Wherever the Lakers went, nightclubs eagerly trumpeted the arrival of Shaq. They advertised in advance, paid him a generous appearance fee and often claimed to be celebrating his birthday, regardless of accuracy.

"Shaq thrived being in the spotlight and having a lot of attention on him," said Brian Shaw, a former O'Neal teammate and current Lakers assistant coach. "Andrew kind of shies away from that. He's more introverted. They're totally different in every way.""