July 3
Akron Beacon Journal
columnist Patrick McManamon
"
He arrived without a nickname but with a motto. ''Win a ring for the King,'' Shaquille O'Neal said Thursday of his mantra now that he has been traded to the Cavaliers. Have to admit, it has a certain ring to it, what with O'Neal joining LeBron James on the same team. Resplendent in a suit, pink shirt and pink tie, O'Neal was a little more serious than expected at his introductory news conference, but still provided occasional humor. He even included a taste of humility when he said he did not consider himself a superstar. As for his role with the Cavs, he said succinctly: ''I'm in the security business. I'm here to protect the King.'' The King is James, of course. But O'Neal might take the ..."
July 3
Cleveland Plain Dealer
columnist Bill Livingston
"
Even before the greeting card, which was super-sized beyond any hamburger chains dreams and was signed by Cavaliers employees, the team gave Shaquille O'Neal a Cleveland moment at his introductory news conference Thursday. Owner Dan Gilbert, wearing a tie, meaning this was serious stuff, handed the 7-foot-1, 320-ish pound veteran center a pair of wine and gold Cavs galoshes with the toes cut out. You know, for growing room. Next came a snow shovel. O'Neal himself, asked for a nickname to follow such self-bestowed monickers as the Big Aristotle, the Big Cactus (in Phoenix), the Big Shaqtus, the Big Galactus, and the immortal Wilt Chamberneezy, embraced the local weather drawbacks with the ..."
June 28
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
columnist Ira Winderman
"
A weekly look at five talking points that have the league buzzing: 1. The "wow" factor. OK, now exhale. Because while the two major trades that went down on draft day appeared to dramatically shake up the Eastern Conference playoff race, the impact might prove less than overwhelming. First take Orlando's acquisition of Vince Carter. While it might sound like a steal, with only Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston and Tony Battie going to New Jersey in return, that hardly paints the complete picture. The move almost certainly removes the Magic from the bidding on free-agent forward Hedo Turkoglu. So that, in essence, means while Orlando adds Carter to its lineup, it loses starters in Lee and ..."
June 28
Akron Beacon Journal
columnist Patrick McManamon
"
The major challenges folks mention about adding Shaquille O'Neal to the Cavaliers do not seem to be challenges in the eyes of the Cavs. The first says that LeBron James won't be able to get to the basket with Shaq's big body clogging the paint. I don't quite understand this one. Did Dwyane Wade have a problem driving when O'Neal was with the Miami Heat? It will take some adjustment, yes, because James has never played with such a massive low-post presence. But nobody in the league has better basketball savvy than James, so any adjustment seems less consequential than it's being made to be. Too, O'Neal's presence gives James a rather hefty option if teams double him. Think back to Game 7 in ..."
June 28
Cleveland Plain Dealer
columnist Bill Livingston
"
The big-screen, wide-angle-lens adventure always took place elsewhere. But now comes Shaq. Maybe Shaquille O'Neal is just passing through. It's likely, but not certain. But already the woe-is-us hymn is in the air. Critics say Shaq is so far over the hill, he only gets back with a ski lift. LeBron James and Shaq won't be able to mesh their games because they need the same space on the floor. Mike Brown will never assemble this jigsaw. It's all the negative, defeatist yada's again. But just getting Shaq is huge. Cold-weather cities are tough sells in basketball. Baseball, too. Even Chicago with Michael Jordan never landed the best free agents. John Hart, when he was the Indians' ..."
June 27
Cleveland Plain Dealer
columnist Bill Livingston
"
On one hand, you've got the guy who played Kazaam, a genie, in the movies. Nobody is going to put Shaquille O'Neal back in the bottle. On the other hand, you've got the guy who likes to be called the King. In his six years here, LeBron James has usually had the ball in his hands, dribbling, dribbling. Basketball as still life. Despite attempts to cast the big trade in terms of two Hollywood divas, jealous over the number of their lines in the script, new marriages usually begin with a vast store of goodwill. The Shaq-Kobe Bryant Lakers dissolved in acrimony, but James always has been a good teammate. Maybe it's because he is King Sol, and the other Cavaliers are planets revolving around ..."
June 26
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
columnist Mark Bradley
"
At the risk of offending the Mayor of Cleveland yet again … I don't share the Cavs' enthusiasm for Shaquille O'Neal. At this stage in his career he's more comedian than competitor. He's 37. He can barely move. He can't shoot free throws. He's not the Shaq of 1995 or even 2002. He's just a guy bouncing from team to team, looking for one last ring. Yes, he's a better low-post threat than Zydrunas Ilgauskas. (Spud Webb was a better low-post threat than Big Z, who's a jump-shooting center.) But he'll also clog the lane in a way deleterious to the game of one LeBron James, who's the franchise in that charming Ohio city. The Cavaliers won 66 games because, by putting shooters around him, they ..."
June 25
Akron Beacon Journal
columnist Patrick McManamon
"
It was during Watergate that we were advised to ''follow the money.'' It might be wise to heed that advice during the NBA Draft Thursday night. Because improvement for the Cavaliers might come at a cost. The Cavs begin the draft with the 30th and last pick in the first round - a byproduct of finishing the regular season with the league's best record. A 30th pick can help a team - Gilbert Arenas was the 30th overall pick when the Washington Wizards took him, and the Cavs did get Carlos Boozer in the second round - but more often than not, the 30th choice is a guy, a pick, a body. To get a real player would require moving up, but even that is dicey. The Cavs' best bargaining chips to (as ..."