Shaquille O'Neal News

"As tribal police officers stood guard, the 7-foot-3-inch Suns center got a brief respite before stepping out into a hallway and being surrounded by starstruck students who didn't know the legend was visiting until he pulled up into the parking lot. They weren't the only people surprised. Reporters got phone calls at noon that O'Neal would be in town at 2 p.m. to give a talk about Internet safety, and casino and tribal officials found out just shortly before that."

" Shaquille O’Neal walked down the court with some grace. No more words, no more bravado. He reached out with his fist, and there was Tim Duncan with his, and their fists tapped. "

"So, yeah, the Spurs are the defending champions and all, not likely to cough up a 3-0 lead to the Suns. But if Shaquille O'Neal can fit in the passenger side of a 1993 Honda Prelude 2-door coup, anything is possible."

"Both certainly have had their moments following their relocation, Kidd providing experienced guidance in Dallas, O'Neal offering proven power in Phoenix. But it's how they got there that would make payback the proper payoff."

"Throughout his coaching career, both domestically and internationally, Mike D'Antoni said he never has ordered an intentional foul in the Hack-a-Shaq spirit. But that doesn't mean he disagrees with the tactic. "Hey, do whatever you got to do to win," the Suns coach said. Intentionally fouling a poor free-throw shooter to stop the clock or cut into a lead is nothing new in postseason basketball. Shaquille O'Neal has dealt with it for years, teams gambling that he'll miss one or both so they can cash in on the offensive end."

"You're here, at Fort Sam Houston, for a history lesson. This is where Shaquille O'Neal spent his junior and senior years of high school, playing basketball at Robert G. Cole High School."

" Back when the Phoenix Suns abandoned their wide-open, defense-be-danged philosophy and dug in their heels around the Big Cactus, one motive for their makeover stood above all others. By adding Shaquille O'Neal, they presumably had a defender who had proven himself capable of slowing Tim Duncan. "

" Suns center Shaquille O'Neal's complaint that the "floppers prevailed" in Game 1 was gamesmanship. If the referees who work tonight's Game 2 happen to hear, or read, his accusation that the Spurs flopped their way to charging calls made against the Suns, O'Neal's goal will be accomplished. "

"Shaquille O'Neal didn't mean to sound harsh, but he didn't know of a better way to say it. "We beat ourselves," he said before the Suns' practice Sunday at the AT&T Center. "We made two crucial mistakes against a veteran, championship team. I mean, those guys played out of their (expletive). Michael Finley, who didn't shoot well all night, hit a (expletive) shot, and Tim Duncan hit a 3. You can't make mistakes like that and leave it to chance, especially in this building.""

" Suns center Shaquille O'Neal won't be adjusting his style of play in hopes of avoiding the early foul trouble that limited him to 30 minutes and 20 seconds in Saturday's double-overtime Game 1 of the Spurs-Suns Western Conference first-round series."

"Shaquille O’Neal was 2-0 against the San Antonio Spurs in the regular season. But Round 1 of the postseason went to the Spurs and their Hall of Fame big man, Tim Duncan."

"But how could that be possible? How could O'Neal, a player who often shows off his basketball knowledge during media interviews, not know much about Amaré Stoudemire, someone he had first heard of years ago in Orlando?"

"It was late January when basketball interrupted banking business for an NBA owner whose team was sitting pretty atop the West. Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver was working at his Biltmore-area office when his Miami Heat counterpart, Micky Arison, called."

"Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan each has four championship rings. Even more impressive, one of the two has played in the past nine NBA Finals. Combined, they have won six Finals MVPs."

"Six days later, Shaquille O'Neal was in Phoenix, pointing to an empty ring finger and composing championship slogans. And just like that, the team that inspired a book called "Seven Seconds or Less" had turned the page themselves."

"Pride can destroy a man, ruin a marriage and bankrupt a business. It can also revitalize a 36-year-old center. Those of us who criticized the Suns’ acquisition of Shaquille O’Neal — and I was leading the charge — forgot one important fact. The man still cares about his legacy."

" At 7-foot-1 and 325 pounds, O'Neal offers the Suns the best shot they've had at making Duncan into a mere mortal."

" And when Suns general manager Steve Kerr, a former Spurs guard, discovered this January he could get Shaquille O'Neal from the Heat for Shawn Marion? The decision was what NBA player personnel types call a "no-brainer.""

"Dale Brown respects the effort. Truly, he does. But if you want the truth, he's just not sure profiling Shaquille O'Neal is possible. There's just too much there, too much to cover, too much to capture. "I've known Shaquille since he was 13," said Brown, who coached O'Neal, now 36, for three seasons at Louisiana State University. "Of all that's been written about him - the newspaper stories, the magazines, the books - nobody has totally encompassed his entire personality. Nobody. He's truly one of the most unique people I've ever met.""

" With the Suns-Spurs playoff series starting Saturday, now is as good a time as any to recall the night O'Neal's homecoming at HemisFair Arena turned sour. Has it really been that long since O'Neal, then a rookie with the Orlando Magic, went out for the opening tip on March 19, 1993? The Spurs beat the Magic 96-93, but what's memorable about the game is that O'Neal was ejected with 6:45 left. "

"In Houston star Tracy McGrady's assessment, the Suns "have it all" and apparently never had enough before acquiring Shaquille O'Neal."

"After absorbing a Jason Terry knee early in Sunday’s loss to Dallas, Suns center Shaquille O’Neal sat out Tuesday night’s game with the Grizzlies in Memphis with a right hip bruise."

" You can call Spurs forward Kurt Thomas clairvoyant. You can call him simply a good guesser. Either way, he says he saw this coming. Whereas many around the NBA saw the Feb. 6 trade that brought Shaquille O'Neal to Phoenix as something of a national joke, Thomas saw it for what it still might be. "

"''I promised [Heat owner] Micky [Arison] I wouldn't say anything,'' O'Neal said just a few days after he was quoted in The Boston Globe as being critical of coach Pat Riley and his personnel decisions, as well as on si.com questioning the Heat's medical staff. ``It's Micky's team, and I promised Micky I wouldn't do that to his organization.''"

"The most absorbing revelation that oozed from the clash of the titans was provided by Riley, who says he ordered Shaq's silence when Stan Van Gundy left the Heat's sideline "to spend more time with his family." Eleven NBA observers out of 10 surveyed believed Riley coordinated Van Gundy's exodus 21 games (11-10) into the '05-'06 championship season to coincide with Shaq's return to active duty. An identical percentage was convinced Riley's renovation of the roster and the ensuing tension caused Van Gundy to vanish. "

"Before Monday’s game, Denver coach George Karl was asked about the biggest difference in the Suns since Shaquille O’Neal joined the team. The answer was easy: Amaré Stoudemire."

"When the Suns played in Boston last week, Celtics guard Sam Cassell said center Shaquille O'Neal still is the NBA's most dominant player. O'Neal can't even agree that he's the most dominant on his team, especially after Amaré Stoudemire's 33-point, 15-rebound game Saturday at New Jersey."

"But still this is the situation — Shaq heading to the free-throw line with the game possibly hanging in the balance — which all of O’Neal’s NBA coaches have dreaded, and the reason why he is typically on the bench at the end of close games."

"Shaq is back, in more ways than one. Phoenix center Shaquille O'Neal is returning to vintage Diesel form _ both his game and his mouth. Such is his nature; he brings dominance but also petulance, never one without the other."

"Shaquille O'Neal is coming to grips with his basketball mortality. To prolong his career with the Phoenix Suns, the once-dominant force has had to become a mere "earthling" who can't simply show up and destroy all in his path. That much was evident as the 7-foot-1 O'Neal prepared in the visitors' locker room for a game against the Celtics on Wednesday."

"He is 36 and getting divorced and dealing with a bad hip - something called a TFL, some kind of tendon isn't working right - and telling his old boss where to get off, and he's had to give up the corner office to the new, hot kid who can run all night and dunk on your bean, and that's all OK with Shaquille O'Neal, the world's biggest role player all of a sudden."

"So now Shaq wants to come back to Orlando and become a general manager. Thanks, big fella. But no thanks. A decade ago, you left the Magic for Hollywood and called Orlando "a dried-up little pond" on your way out the door. Speaking on behalf of the rest of the muck-dwellers at the bottom of the basin, I have a message for you, Shaq Daddy: Take your GM job and shove it!"

"Pat Riley came out punching Thursday, refusing to remain the punching bag of his former championship center. After two days of jabs from Shaquille O'Neal about the way Riley handled him during the center's tenure with the Heat, Riley fired his own stinging blow about what clearly has become a bitter parting. "We have sutured up the stab wounds in the back," Riley said before the Heat lost 85-69 to the Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills. "So everybody's waiting for another onslaught. That's how we look at it.""

"Honestly, am I the only one who doesn't care about this Shaq-said, Pat-said nonsense? Am I the only one who thinks Shaquille O'Neal's mini-salvos at the Heat were as predictable as his Suns setting in the West? Am I the only one less worried about Pat Riley's thoughts for this aging star who left the Heat in the wilderness than the young star who could help them out of it? "

"This is NBA-icon quarreling in the media. Apparently, Riley felt slighted by O'Neal's recent remarks that lift everything Suns above how things were in Miami. Riley's boiling point came Wednesday, when O'Neal was quoted in the Boston Globe saying, "We have professionals who know what to do. No one is asking me to play with Chris Quinn or Ricky Davis. I'm actually on a team again." Riley told reporters in New York that O'Neal's comments about his teammates were "sad" and that previous comments about the Heat medical staff were a "shame." "

"Simmering differences between the Heat and Shaquille O'Neal boiled over Wednesday, with the massive center lobbing massive volleys at his former team. In a column in the Boston Globe, O'Neal trashed former teammates and his former coach while speaking about his move to the title-contending Suns. "We have professionals who know what to do," O'Neal said of playing for the Suns. "No one is asking me to play with Chris Quinn or Ricky Davis. I'm actually on a team again.""

"Center Shaquille O'Neal was traded from the Miami Heat to the Phoenix Suns last month, but the Orlando Magic -- where he started his high-profile career -- never seem far from his thoughts. Wednesday was no exception. O'Neal, who was in Boston preparing to play the Celtics, said after a morning practice that he hopes to take over management of the Orlando Magic when he retires as a player following the 2009-10 season."

"O'Neal, who was in Boston preparing to play the Celtics Wednesday night, said after a morning practice that he hopes to take over management of the Orlando Magic when he retires as a player following the 2009-10 season. He also expects to bring Grant Hill -- former Magic player and current teammate with the Suns -- along to help him."

"The Heat had one of its best defensive efforts Wednesday night. It just so happened to come off the court before its game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Heat players and coaches shot back at center Shaquille O'Neal, who ripped his former teammates for the second time in as many weeks, this time in a Boston Globe article published Wednesday."

"Tempe should brace itself for a Shaq attack. Police confirmed Tuesday that Phoenix Suns star Shaquille O'Neal is set to become a volunteer with the Tempe Police Department in the near future."

"Shaquille O'Neal's memory is excellent. This is bad news for the doubters and haters who declared the decision of the Phoenix Suns to send Shawn Marion packing and replace him with the 36-year-old Diesel a colossal blunder."

"If talk about Shaquille O’Neal being a bad fit for the Suns hasn’t already been put to bed, it’s time do so."

"There's no mystery to where O'Neal functions best offensively. The Suns coaching staff relented from early attempts to use him in the pre-existing offense and now puts him on the block regularly. Upon arrival, O'Neal said he did not want the Suns to adjust to him, but they had to if they were going to maximize his effect."

"The Phoenix Suns beat writer said Shaquille O'Neal didn't usually talk to reporters before games, so I walked into the visiting locker room thinking he wouldn't have much to say, if anything at all. Grant Hill was seated next to O'Neal, and I thought, well, if I ask Hill a few questions about the Sonics and their situation here, maybe the big fella would join the conversation. Sure enough, he did. Want to know what Shaq thinks about the Sonics' possible move to Oklahoma City? He feels like most Sonics fans. "It's dumb, it's stupid," O'Neal said."

"The trade promised versatility. With Shaquille O'Neal at center, the Suns felt they would possess the defensive mind-set to win in the half court, while also maintaining the aggression to triumph in transition."

"He's not Superman anymore, the moniker having been adopted by Orlando's Dwight Howard in this year's slam dunk contest in what is about as official as passing of the torches come in this league. But as Shaquille O'Neal showed this week, he can still fly."

"People expected the defensive presence, the rebounds and the jokes, which haven't stopped since his introductory news conference. But Suns fans also have seen Shaquille O'Neal dive out of bounds for loose balls and try out his best Steve Nash impression, finding the open man from his spot in the post. His six assists Tuesday against Memphis were a season high. It could be a sign of things to come. O'Neal dished eight assists in a win last season against the Chicago Bulls. He had 10 in a 2006 win against Toronto. He recorded seven in 2005 wins over Atlanta and Denver. "

"The Suns' resident Most Valuable Player Award winners, point guard Steve Nash and center Shaquille O'Neal, sound like newlyweds talking of their bliss and bright futures. The offensive marriage is growing with each game, as Nash looks particularly more comfortable with how to function his game around a presence such as O'Neal."

"And the next — midway through the third quarter — Suns center Shaquille O’Neal chased a loose ball out of bounds, leaped over the first row of seats and Wise had become the runway for an inbound, 7-foot-1, 325-pound jumbo jet."

"Shaquille O'Neal's dive into the third row of seats at U.S. Airways Center trying to save a loose ball was destined for every TV sports highlight show on the continent."