ducks
09-27-2004, 04:14 PM
Slim Daddy's ready to roll
Shaquille O'Neal stepped up on the scales last week and saw a number he hasn't seen in more than a few years: 334.
By Shaq's count, he's already dropped 26 pounds since his final days as a Laker. Thanks to a twice-a-day cardiovascular regimen, he's in his best shape in years. And he's not finished. His goal, he's told friends, is to drop another nine pounds by the time he reports for his first training camp in Miami next week.
A leaner, meaner Shaq is going to clean up this season. But it's not just because he's motivated by the way his Laker career ended. Of course he's still burning up over how Jerry Buss decided to rebuild around Kobe Bryant after the Lakers flamed out in the Finals.
"Who's going to be the scapegoat now? Who are they going to point at now?" he said last week, when he was back in L.A. to host a basketball camp. "They've got to have a scapegoat. And they know I'm strong enough to be that scapegoat."
There's more than just bad memories to keep Shaq going this year. With a player option in his contract after the season, he's looking to get the kind of new deal that Buss refused to pay. That was a major consideration in moving O'Neal. As ex-Lakers exec Jerry West recently observed, "some of it was probably a financial decision."
It could cost less for Buss to rebuild around Bryant, still only 26, than to keep paying O'Neal, 32, who was getting to be a pain with his constant demands for an extension. Now, Heat owner Mickey Arison is the one who will hear Shaq's kvetching.
Well, Mickey, how does three years for $90 million sound?
We didn't pluck those numbers out of thin air. Those are the very figures Shaq has in mind.
He'll make $28 million this season and isn't about to take a pay cut, even if the Heat is one of the league's financial wrecks. They've been losing at least $15 million per year for the last few seasons, according to financial gurus. And even with O'Neal's drawing power, they still stand to lose $10 million this season.
The problem with extending Shaq at his figure is that he's shown signs of wearing down (see his playoff performances when he plays on only one day's rest) and he could very well revert to his lazy offseason habits after this season.
At this time next year, those numbers on Shaq's scale could be going back up.
Jordan return? It's just hot Air
So Michael Jordan steps on the practice court a few times and all of a sudden he's embarking on Comeback No. 3? It made no sense, as Jordan himself admitted when rumors had him winding up in Miami to team with Shaq.
Jordan wants to own the Heat, not play with them.
"I don't know how this started," he said.
It all started when Jordan began working out with Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, Quentin Richardson and a few other NBA players in Chicago during the summer. While outsiders automatically assumed that Jordan was practicing with an eye toward returning, one eyewitness reported that Jordan hardly ran the floor, played almost exclusively at point guard and did a lot of passing. About the only thing he did like the Jordan of old was talk a bunch of trash.
Nets CEO Rod Thorn was one of many who never took the comeback talk seriously.
"Michael had put on some weight," Thorn said. "I figured he's working out so that he can get back into those great suits he wears."
Apparently, Jordan didn't do a lot of running during those games because when he showed up at his annual fantasy camp in the Mirage out in Vegas late last month, he was still a good 12-15 pounds overweight. To conceal his extra pounds, he stuck to wearing sweats and never once stepped on the floor to play with his "campers," each of whom shelled out $15,000 for the four-day session.
But the comeback rumors persisted, even with Pat Riley saying he had had no contact with Jordan and didn't expect to hear from His Airness. By the way, Riley wasn't interested in Jordan playing, not at this stage of his life.
But there was even a story that Jordan had left several messages on Shaq's voice mail, asking about teaming up this season. As it turns out, he was calling merely to ask Shaq about speaking at his basketball camp.
"I haven't talked with Shaq," Jordan said late last week. "There's no comeback."
Thank goodness. Jordan turns 42 in February. After what we saw out of him as a Wizard, we didn't want to see him playing in Miami. Or anywhere else.
Now, perhaps Clyde Drexler and Dennis Rodman will come to their senses and drop their comeback plans. The bills must be really piling up for Rodman to be looking to resume his career.
In his day and even past his prime, he had more energy than 99% of the NBA, but when he tried to scrimmage with a few Nuggets last week, it looked like all those boozy late nights had finally caught up to the Worm. He barely had broken a sweat when he walked off the court, citing a pair of painful in-grown toenails.
Rodman should stay away for good, and so should Drexler, who turned 42 in June and hasn't played since 1998. He clearly needs to get on with his life. He's flopped as a coach, so that rules out that line of work. He's like all of his other Dream Team peers. He'd love to get a GM job, and with most GMs making at least $1 million a year these days, who wouldn't?
The last thing Clyde needs to do is come back and try to Glide.
Kobe's new deal makes a whole lot of cents
Kobe Bryant's new deal has a couple of interesting features, including a no-trade clause, which is virtually unheard of in the NBA. He also has a 15% trade kicker and is going to get paid most of his annual salary before he ever steps on the floor.
According to the conditions of the seven-year, $136 million deal with the Lakers, he was paid 70% of this coming season's $14.2 million - $9.94 million - back on Aug. 15. A good arrangement to have considering all of his legal fees, right? In future seasons, he will get 70% of his forthcoming salary every Sept. 1, rather than receiving the conventional twice-monthly checks during the season. The deal tops out at $24.8 million in the final season, which is at his option.
www.nydailynews.com/sport...2417c.html (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/story/235695p-202417c.html)
Shaquille O'Neal stepped up on the scales last week and saw a number he hasn't seen in more than a few years: 334.
By Shaq's count, he's already dropped 26 pounds since his final days as a Laker. Thanks to a twice-a-day cardiovascular regimen, he's in his best shape in years. And he's not finished. His goal, he's told friends, is to drop another nine pounds by the time he reports for his first training camp in Miami next week.
A leaner, meaner Shaq is going to clean up this season. But it's not just because he's motivated by the way his Laker career ended. Of course he's still burning up over how Jerry Buss decided to rebuild around Kobe Bryant after the Lakers flamed out in the Finals.
"Who's going to be the scapegoat now? Who are they going to point at now?" he said last week, when he was back in L.A. to host a basketball camp. "They've got to have a scapegoat. And they know I'm strong enough to be that scapegoat."
There's more than just bad memories to keep Shaq going this year. With a player option in his contract after the season, he's looking to get the kind of new deal that Buss refused to pay. That was a major consideration in moving O'Neal. As ex-Lakers exec Jerry West recently observed, "some of it was probably a financial decision."
It could cost less for Buss to rebuild around Bryant, still only 26, than to keep paying O'Neal, 32, who was getting to be a pain with his constant demands for an extension. Now, Heat owner Mickey Arison is the one who will hear Shaq's kvetching.
Well, Mickey, how does three years for $90 million sound?
We didn't pluck those numbers out of thin air. Those are the very figures Shaq has in mind.
He'll make $28 million this season and isn't about to take a pay cut, even if the Heat is one of the league's financial wrecks. They've been losing at least $15 million per year for the last few seasons, according to financial gurus. And even with O'Neal's drawing power, they still stand to lose $10 million this season.
The problem with extending Shaq at his figure is that he's shown signs of wearing down (see his playoff performances when he plays on only one day's rest) and he could very well revert to his lazy offseason habits after this season.
At this time next year, those numbers on Shaq's scale could be going back up.
Jordan return? It's just hot Air
So Michael Jordan steps on the practice court a few times and all of a sudden he's embarking on Comeback No. 3? It made no sense, as Jordan himself admitted when rumors had him winding up in Miami to team with Shaq.
Jordan wants to own the Heat, not play with them.
"I don't know how this started," he said.
It all started when Jordan began working out with Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, Quentin Richardson and a few other NBA players in Chicago during the summer. While outsiders automatically assumed that Jordan was practicing with an eye toward returning, one eyewitness reported that Jordan hardly ran the floor, played almost exclusively at point guard and did a lot of passing. About the only thing he did like the Jordan of old was talk a bunch of trash.
Nets CEO Rod Thorn was one of many who never took the comeback talk seriously.
"Michael had put on some weight," Thorn said. "I figured he's working out so that he can get back into those great suits he wears."
Apparently, Jordan didn't do a lot of running during those games because when he showed up at his annual fantasy camp in the Mirage out in Vegas late last month, he was still a good 12-15 pounds overweight. To conceal his extra pounds, he stuck to wearing sweats and never once stepped on the floor to play with his "campers," each of whom shelled out $15,000 for the four-day session.
But the comeback rumors persisted, even with Pat Riley saying he had had no contact with Jordan and didn't expect to hear from His Airness. By the way, Riley wasn't interested in Jordan playing, not at this stage of his life.
But there was even a story that Jordan had left several messages on Shaq's voice mail, asking about teaming up this season. As it turns out, he was calling merely to ask Shaq about speaking at his basketball camp.
"I haven't talked with Shaq," Jordan said late last week. "There's no comeback."
Thank goodness. Jordan turns 42 in February. After what we saw out of him as a Wizard, we didn't want to see him playing in Miami. Or anywhere else.
Now, perhaps Clyde Drexler and Dennis Rodman will come to their senses and drop their comeback plans. The bills must be really piling up for Rodman to be looking to resume his career.
In his day and even past his prime, he had more energy than 99% of the NBA, but when he tried to scrimmage with a few Nuggets last week, it looked like all those boozy late nights had finally caught up to the Worm. He barely had broken a sweat when he walked off the court, citing a pair of painful in-grown toenails.
Rodman should stay away for good, and so should Drexler, who turned 42 in June and hasn't played since 1998. He clearly needs to get on with his life. He's flopped as a coach, so that rules out that line of work. He's like all of his other Dream Team peers. He'd love to get a GM job, and with most GMs making at least $1 million a year these days, who wouldn't?
The last thing Clyde needs to do is come back and try to Glide.
Kobe's new deal makes a whole lot of cents
Kobe Bryant's new deal has a couple of interesting features, including a no-trade clause, which is virtually unheard of in the NBA. He also has a 15% trade kicker and is going to get paid most of his annual salary before he ever steps on the floor.
According to the conditions of the seven-year, $136 million deal with the Lakers, he was paid 70% of this coming season's $14.2 million - $9.94 million - back on Aug. 15. A good arrangement to have considering all of his legal fees, right? In future seasons, he will get 70% of his forthcoming salary every Sept. 1, rather than receiving the conventional twice-monthly checks during the season. The deal tops out at $24.8 million in the final season, which is at his option.
www.nydailynews.com/sport...2417c.html (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/story/235695p-202417c.html)