timvp
10-01-2004, 02:14 AM
Shaq: Kobe a 'clown' and 'weirdo'
By Chris Perkins
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2004/10/01/a1b_shaq_1001.html
MIAMI — On this hot, spectacularly sunny day it was best to just let Heat center Shaquille O'Neal flow.
Did he ever.
In his first one-on-one interviews with South Florida media, the Miami Heat center unloaded on former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant. This was mostly in response to a media report that Bryant, after being arrested in Eagle, Colo., on a sexual-assault charge that later was dropped, told police that O'Neal had paid women as much as $1 million to keep quiet about adulterous affairs.
"He (messed) up in Colorado doing what he did, and what's the first name that comes out of his mouth? My name," O'Neal said Thursday. "That should tell you I'm important to this cat.
"A lot of people ask me, 'What do you think about him?' This dude's a clown. He's a... clown. You're out there (messing) up and you're saying, 'He did it.' He did what? You don't even know me. I promise you we never hung out. We were never in any clubs together. He never did nothing with the team. I don't even know this kid. But I knew he was a weirdo."O'Neal said Bryant's recent troubles revealed the man behind the image.
"There's fairy-tale life and there's real life," O'Neal said. "He just showed his colors in real life."
O'Neal, who often refers to himself as Diesel, at one time considered himself a mentor to Bryant, who entered the NBA directly from high school.
"But he's a... child.... Just like I told (ESPN), he's the only one buying love right now, the (stuff) he has to do to get out of a jam. Diesel don't do that."
O'Neal, in describing Bryant "buying love," was referring to the $4 million diamond ring Bryant bought for his wife after being charged with sexual assault.
In the wide-ranging interview Thursday, O'Neal also repeated his previous complaints about his former team, saying the Lakers used "unfair practices" and that he was made into a "scapegoat" for the team's failures.
O'Neal initially addressed lighter topics during the media session at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Miami's Brickell Key. He also referred to himself as "the Halle Berry of the NBA — everybody wants me."
The 7-1, 335-pound O'Neal was chatty, volunteering long-winded answers to questions about his new physique (he's dropped 20 pounds in two months), his new teammates and his old teammates.
What became most obvious is O'Neal has taken a liking to Dwyane Wade, the Heat's dynamic second-year guard.
"The mistakes I made with my other two pupils, Penny (Hardaway) and the other cat (Bryant), I won't make those mistakes here," O'Neal said.
The rant against Bryant was a 180-degree turn from the rest of the 20-minute interview.
Before that started O'Neal had to get out of the swimming pool at the hotel. He also had to get out of his Heat uniform, which he was wearing in the pool during a photo shoot for Sports Illustrated.
Once away from the pool and inside the hotel O'Neal couldn't immediately locate a place to change clothes so he ducked into a corner, had people surround him, and changed right there.
Wet uniform off, dry clothes on.
"It's OK," said a grinning hotel employee standing with his back to O'Neal, shielding him.
Riding in the elevator that overlooks the pool, a middle-aged woman asked why all the photo equipment was there.
"For my sexy photo shoot," O'Neal said with a devilish grin.
"Oh, your sexy photo shoot," the woman replied with a smile, seemingly unaware O'Neal is a celebrity.
Now more comfortable, O'Neal hit a range of topics but clearly the ones that got him going most were Wade and Bryant, and not necessarily in that order.
When the Heat visits the Lakers in Los Angeles on Christmas Day it'll be the biggest NBA regular-season game of the year, and the O'Neal-Bryant feud will be a big reason.
O'Neal, however, said Christmas for him will be about delivering toys to kids in poor Los Angeles neighborhoods, something he's done for years.
"I understand what you're going to be talking about," O'Neal said, "but I don't have to worry about him and he doesn't have to worry about me. He's got to worry about D. Wade and those guys. I don't have to worry about him coming up my way.
"But you know marketing and media-wise that's what they're going to do and that's what they should do. Make it the highest-rated game. But this game is not going to make to break me. It's not going to make or break me. I'm going to go through the 'hood and kids that don't have a daddy, or daddy is away, I'm going to get them a Nintendo or get them some shoes, and I'm straight for that day. Nothing else matters."
By Chris Perkins
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2004/10/01/a1b_shaq_1001.html
MIAMI — On this hot, spectacularly sunny day it was best to just let Heat center Shaquille O'Neal flow.
Did he ever.
In his first one-on-one interviews with South Florida media, the Miami Heat center unloaded on former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant. This was mostly in response to a media report that Bryant, after being arrested in Eagle, Colo., on a sexual-assault charge that later was dropped, told police that O'Neal had paid women as much as $1 million to keep quiet about adulterous affairs.
"He (messed) up in Colorado doing what he did, and what's the first name that comes out of his mouth? My name," O'Neal said Thursday. "That should tell you I'm important to this cat.
"A lot of people ask me, 'What do you think about him?' This dude's a clown. He's a... clown. You're out there (messing) up and you're saying, 'He did it.' He did what? You don't even know me. I promise you we never hung out. We were never in any clubs together. He never did nothing with the team. I don't even know this kid. But I knew he was a weirdo."O'Neal said Bryant's recent troubles revealed the man behind the image.
"There's fairy-tale life and there's real life," O'Neal said. "He just showed his colors in real life."
O'Neal, who often refers to himself as Diesel, at one time considered himself a mentor to Bryant, who entered the NBA directly from high school.
"But he's a... child.... Just like I told (ESPN), he's the only one buying love right now, the (stuff) he has to do to get out of a jam. Diesel don't do that."
O'Neal, in describing Bryant "buying love," was referring to the $4 million diamond ring Bryant bought for his wife after being charged with sexual assault.
In the wide-ranging interview Thursday, O'Neal also repeated his previous complaints about his former team, saying the Lakers used "unfair practices" and that he was made into a "scapegoat" for the team's failures.
O'Neal initially addressed lighter topics during the media session at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Miami's Brickell Key. He also referred to himself as "the Halle Berry of the NBA — everybody wants me."
The 7-1, 335-pound O'Neal was chatty, volunteering long-winded answers to questions about his new physique (he's dropped 20 pounds in two months), his new teammates and his old teammates.
What became most obvious is O'Neal has taken a liking to Dwyane Wade, the Heat's dynamic second-year guard.
"The mistakes I made with my other two pupils, Penny (Hardaway) and the other cat (Bryant), I won't make those mistakes here," O'Neal said.
The rant against Bryant was a 180-degree turn from the rest of the 20-minute interview.
Before that started O'Neal had to get out of the swimming pool at the hotel. He also had to get out of his Heat uniform, which he was wearing in the pool during a photo shoot for Sports Illustrated.
Once away from the pool and inside the hotel O'Neal couldn't immediately locate a place to change clothes so he ducked into a corner, had people surround him, and changed right there.
Wet uniform off, dry clothes on.
"It's OK," said a grinning hotel employee standing with his back to O'Neal, shielding him.
Riding in the elevator that overlooks the pool, a middle-aged woman asked why all the photo equipment was there.
"For my sexy photo shoot," O'Neal said with a devilish grin.
"Oh, your sexy photo shoot," the woman replied with a smile, seemingly unaware O'Neal is a celebrity.
Now more comfortable, O'Neal hit a range of topics but clearly the ones that got him going most were Wade and Bryant, and not necessarily in that order.
When the Heat visits the Lakers in Los Angeles on Christmas Day it'll be the biggest NBA regular-season game of the year, and the O'Neal-Bryant feud will be a big reason.
O'Neal, however, said Christmas for him will be about delivering toys to kids in poor Los Angeles neighborhoods, something he's done for years.
"I understand what you're going to be talking about," O'Neal said, "but I don't have to worry about him and he doesn't have to worry about me. He's got to worry about D. Wade and those guys. I don't have to worry about him coming up my way.
"But you know marketing and media-wise that's what they're going to do and that's what they should do. Make it the highest-rated game. But this game is not going to make to break me. It's not going to make or break me. I'm going to go through the 'hood and kids that don't have a daddy, or daddy is away, I'm going to get them a Nintendo or get them some shoes, and I'm straight for that day. Nothing else matters."