flipcritic
03-05-2009, 12:06 AM
Yes it's from some obscure publication, but I found it pretty good.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/heat/content/sports/epaper/2009/03/04/a1c_stoda_0305.html
Commentary: Shaq reminds us why he's not missed
By Greg Stoda
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
MIAMI — Enough with the revisionist history.
Enough with allowing Shaquille O'Neal to rewrite the script of how he left the Miami Heat on business-is-business terms with no hard feelings.
That's nothing but Shaq being Shaq, and he's manipulatively good at it.
Doesn't mean he's right.
He was at ever-increasing odds with team President Pat Riley.
He denigrated the Heat medical staff.
He insulted role players Chris Quinn and Ricky Davis.
And hardly was he effusive in praise for Miami superstar Dwyane Wade - "Wonder Boy" was a favorite jealous reference - upon scurrying out of town and landing in Phoenix.
"I don't remember saying anything, but I never bite my tongue," O'Neal said Wednesday night in his first game back at AmericanAirlines Arena since Miami traded him to the Suns a little more than a year ago. "So, if I said something, it was all done out of truth-slash-marketing."
And, yes, he said "slash."
That's so O'Neal.
That's so O'Neal giving himself a free pass.
It's honesty as he defines it.
And hardly did he bite his tongue when the subject turned to Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who was head coach of the Heat for a time until O'Neal ran him off early in what turned out to be Miami's championship season of 2005-06.
Van Gundy accused O'Neal of taking a dive against the Magic while trying to draw a charging call during a Phoenix loss Tuesday night. O'Neal has complained about opponents using the same tactic against him throughout his career.
O'Neal, in vicious retort, called Van Gundy a "front-runner" and a "nobody" who will "panic" with the Magic during the playoffs. He said flopping describes Van Gundy's "whole coaching career."
Wonder if he'll remember saying any of that? O'Neal later was greeted by fans with a tepid blend of cheers and boos - Riley was among those standing and applauding - and he went to the Heat bench for hugs and handshakes before tipoff.
There were mostly kind words from Miami coach Erik Spoelstra - an assistant during O'Neal's 31/2-season tenure with Miami - about how the franchise always will "think warmly" of the run to the NBA title that O'Neal helped deliver.
Notice, however, Spoelstra said "think warmly" of the success ... not necessarily of O'Neal.
And, pointedly, there was Wade.
"My grandma always said, 'You forgive, but you don't forget,''" Wade said. "I live by those words."
Wade obviously hasn't forgotten the slights uttered by O'Neal, who would offer them in his usual style - teasingly so as to be able to claim misinterpretation, but with intended effect. It was derisive.
Wade was motivated enough to score 35 points in Wednesday's game.
O'Neal said Wade was "playing great right now" and is of MVP caliber.
"Nothing to fuel," O'Neal said.
If he says so.
O'Neal, feeling healthier and acting happier now than he did at the end of his Miami days, has been playing wonderfully himself. He has been good enough, in fact, to spawn what-if speculation about how dangerous the Heat might be were he still playing for Miami.
The answer: Probably dangerous enough to challenge for the Eastern Conference crown, though O'Neal would only say the Heat would be "right up there" with him in the fold.
The rub? O'Neal wouldn't be playing for the Heat in the manner he's playing for the Suns at the moment, because he'd still be miserable and making everybody around him miserable, too.
O'Neal had grown uncomfortable in Miami as the ascent of Wade's career coincided with the decline of his own. The Heat couldn't have won its title without O'Neal, it's true, but Wade did the heaviest lifting on that ride.
It had reached the point at which Miami couldn't count on having O'Neal available - he played 73, 59 and 40 games in his three full Heat seasons - and he had become a drain on the team.
"It was very difficult," Wade said.
O'Neal, too, always was willing to take credit in good times - especially as a facilitator of Wade's growth - while making it a point to absolve himself of any blame when things weren't going well.
"That's in the wind, now," Wade said. "We've got to move forward from it."
Never, though, is O'Neal going to cast himself in anything but the most favorable light. His ego is as supersized as his 7-1, 325-pound body.
Wade knows it, and had come to chafe under it.
O'Neal couldn't be the center of Miami's universe, and didn't like it. He couldn't get himself fully to defer to Wade's greatness.
He was The Incredible Sulk more often than he was The Incredible Hulk during the late stages of his Miami involvement, right up until the Heat traded him to Phoenix for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, who recently were traded to Toronto for Jermaine O'Neal and Jamario Moon.
So - never mind salary-cap space and other economic considerations - it amounts to a deal of O'Neal for O'Neal and Moon, which means Miami got what it wanted (a title) out of the Shaq relationship and also set itself up for the future.
That's a pretty nice package.
There's no denying that O'Neal, who scored 22 points before fouling out late in the Suns' defeat, can be a spectacular athlete and an entertaining showman.
He's an event all by himself, but there were plenty of seats available Wednesday night.
So, happy birthday come Friday to the 37-year-old-to-be giant, who, no matter how he plays it, orchestrated his departure from Miami - Riley was more than happy to make it happen - those 13 months ago.
He quit on Miami, and then complained about the group he quit on.
The Heat was better off without O'Neal then, and it isn't done getting better without him now.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/heat/content/sports/epaper/2009/03/04/a1c_stoda_0305.html
Commentary: Shaq reminds us why he's not missed
By Greg Stoda
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
MIAMI — Enough with the revisionist history.
Enough with allowing Shaquille O'Neal to rewrite the script of how he left the Miami Heat on business-is-business terms with no hard feelings.
That's nothing but Shaq being Shaq, and he's manipulatively good at it.
Doesn't mean he's right.
He was at ever-increasing odds with team President Pat Riley.
He denigrated the Heat medical staff.
He insulted role players Chris Quinn and Ricky Davis.
And hardly was he effusive in praise for Miami superstar Dwyane Wade - "Wonder Boy" was a favorite jealous reference - upon scurrying out of town and landing in Phoenix.
"I don't remember saying anything, but I never bite my tongue," O'Neal said Wednesday night in his first game back at AmericanAirlines Arena since Miami traded him to the Suns a little more than a year ago. "So, if I said something, it was all done out of truth-slash-marketing."
And, yes, he said "slash."
That's so O'Neal.
That's so O'Neal giving himself a free pass.
It's honesty as he defines it.
And hardly did he bite his tongue when the subject turned to Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who was head coach of the Heat for a time until O'Neal ran him off early in what turned out to be Miami's championship season of 2005-06.
Van Gundy accused O'Neal of taking a dive against the Magic while trying to draw a charging call during a Phoenix loss Tuesday night. O'Neal has complained about opponents using the same tactic against him throughout his career.
O'Neal, in vicious retort, called Van Gundy a "front-runner" and a "nobody" who will "panic" with the Magic during the playoffs. He said flopping describes Van Gundy's "whole coaching career."
Wonder if he'll remember saying any of that? O'Neal later was greeted by fans with a tepid blend of cheers and boos - Riley was among those standing and applauding - and he went to the Heat bench for hugs and handshakes before tipoff.
There were mostly kind words from Miami coach Erik Spoelstra - an assistant during O'Neal's 31/2-season tenure with Miami - about how the franchise always will "think warmly" of the run to the NBA title that O'Neal helped deliver.
Notice, however, Spoelstra said "think warmly" of the success ... not necessarily of O'Neal.
And, pointedly, there was Wade.
"My grandma always said, 'You forgive, but you don't forget,''" Wade said. "I live by those words."
Wade obviously hasn't forgotten the slights uttered by O'Neal, who would offer them in his usual style - teasingly so as to be able to claim misinterpretation, but with intended effect. It was derisive.
Wade was motivated enough to score 35 points in Wednesday's game.
O'Neal said Wade was "playing great right now" and is of MVP caliber.
"Nothing to fuel," O'Neal said.
If he says so.
O'Neal, feeling healthier and acting happier now than he did at the end of his Miami days, has been playing wonderfully himself. He has been good enough, in fact, to spawn what-if speculation about how dangerous the Heat might be were he still playing for Miami.
The answer: Probably dangerous enough to challenge for the Eastern Conference crown, though O'Neal would only say the Heat would be "right up there" with him in the fold.
The rub? O'Neal wouldn't be playing for the Heat in the manner he's playing for the Suns at the moment, because he'd still be miserable and making everybody around him miserable, too.
O'Neal had grown uncomfortable in Miami as the ascent of Wade's career coincided with the decline of his own. The Heat couldn't have won its title without O'Neal, it's true, but Wade did the heaviest lifting on that ride.
It had reached the point at which Miami couldn't count on having O'Neal available - he played 73, 59 and 40 games in his three full Heat seasons - and he had become a drain on the team.
"It was very difficult," Wade said.
O'Neal, too, always was willing to take credit in good times - especially as a facilitator of Wade's growth - while making it a point to absolve himself of any blame when things weren't going well.
"That's in the wind, now," Wade said. "We've got to move forward from it."
Never, though, is O'Neal going to cast himself in anything but the most favorable light. His ego is as supersized as his 7-1, 325-pound body.
Wade knows it, and had come to chafe under it.
O'Neal couldn't be the center of Miami's universe, and didn't like it. He couldn't get himself fully to defer to Wade's greatness.
He was The Incredible Sulk more often than he was The Incredible Hulk during the late stages of his Miami involvement, right up until the Heat traded him to Phoenix for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, who recently were traded to Toronto for Jermaine O'Neal and Jamario Moon.
So - never mind salary-cap space and other economic considerations - it amounts to a deal of O'Neal for O'Neal and Moon, which means Miami got what it wanted (a title) out of the Shaq relationship and also set itself up for the future.
That's a pretty nice package.
There's no denying that O'Neal, who scored 22 points before fouling out late in the Suns' defeat, can be a spectacular athlete and an entertaining showman.
He's an event all by himself, but there were plenty of seats available Wednesday night.
So, happy birthday come Friday to the 37-year-old-to-be giant, who, no matter how he plays it, orchestrated his departure from Miami - Riley was more than happy to make it happen - those 13 months ago.
He quit on Miami, and then complained about the group he quit on.
The Heat was better off without O'Neal then, and it isn't done getting better without him now.