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Ima guess this story is bull to a certain extent. AZCentral will take advantage of any opportunity to sabotage Shaq and make Nash look like the Knight in shining armor.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...oivinshaq.html
The most entertaining part of the new reality show, "Shaq Vs."? The credits.
Tuesday's debut, which featured Shaquille O'Neal taking on Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in football, was a tad long and a bit contrived. It became decidedly more interesting, though, when the credits rolled and this name popped up as one of the executive producers:
Steve Nash.
There's an interesting back story here, one that explains in part some of the fractured relationships that defined the Suns' struggles last season.
O'Neal stole Nash's idea.
Shortly after O'Neal was traded to the Suns in February 2008, Nash mentioned to his new teammate a reality show he was pursuing. It would feature the Suns point guard taking on professional athletes in their own sport.
The topic didn't come up again until early in the 2008-09 season, when O'Neal boarded the Suns bus and told the team he would be starring in a new reality show in which he would be taking on, you got it, professional athletes in their own sport.
"You mean the idea you stole from me?" one Suns representative said he heard Nash say.
Nash eventually sought out an entertainment lawyer, according to sources, which is why he now has an executive-producer credit and the compensation that comes with it.
When reached Wednesday, Nash would not confirm the story.
"We collaborated on parts of the show," he said. "I support him 100 percent. I thought the first episode was a fantastic episode, and I can't wait for the next one."
That's something you would expect Nash to say. He often has played the role of locker-room peacemaker. He is known as a teammate who diffuses tough situations before they escalate.
In reality, a source close to Nash said, "Steve was pissed. He couldn't believe Shaq's lack of integrity."
The experience set the tone for some shaky chemistry on the court. Off it, Nash found himself in a difficult situation, trying to co-exist with a teammate who had blindsided him.
"He's moved on," the source said. "He really does want the show to succeed."
Calls made to O'Neal's representatives were not returned.
Being a teammate of O'Neal's is a bit like falling into the rabbit hole.
Several years ago, when O'Neal played for Miami, he referred to Nash's back-to-back MVP awards as "tainted." He later back-pedaled.
The 2008-09 season was trying from the start. The team struggled under new coach Terry Porter's deliberate system. In December, the Suns traded one of Nash's best friends, Raja Bell, with Boris Diaw, to Charlotte for Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley.
During the All-Star break, they fired Porter and replaced him with assistant Alvin Gentry, who steered the Suns back to their up-tempo ways. Several days after Gentry took over, All-Star power forward Amaré Stoudemire underwent season-ending surgery to repair a detached retina.
The Suns were out of the playoffs for the first time in five years.
Here's a hunch that when the Suns decided to trade O'Neal to Cleveland in late June, it helped Nash arrive at his decision to sign an extension with the Suns a month later.
Here's a hunch that chemistry on this team will be better in the 2009-10 season, too.
Nash enjoys playing for Gentry and is happy his friend Grant Hill is back. He'll have his pick-and-roll mate, Stoudemire, and an offense that should be more fluid.
Nash might be 35, but let's not forget he recently became the first NBA player to shoot more than 50 percent from the floor, 90 percent from the line and 40 percent from 3-point range for three consecutive seasons.
How long "Shaq Vs." lasts remains to be seen. It landed a 2.7 rating locally, which means approximately 48,670 Phoenix homes tuned in to the ABC show. NBC's "America's Got Talent" received a 7.6 rating locally, and CBS's "Big Brother" took a 3.9 rating.
In future shows, O'Neal is scheduled to compete against swimmer Michael Phelps, boxer Oscar De La Hoya and tennis star Serena Williams.
O'Neal might have other battles in his future as well. Author Todd Gallagher says the show is a rip-off of his book, "Andy Rod Beat Me with a Frying Pan," according to TMZ, and is pursuing legal action.
"Shaq Vs." is a reality show, but O'Neal's life more resembles a drama.
The Suns are better off without it.
Ima guess this story is bull to a certain extent. AZCentral will take advantage of any opportunity to sabotage Shaq and make Nash look like the Knight in shining armor.
You can bash Nash all you want, but it's hardly a stretch to say Shaq has little to no integrity. He's thrown people under the bus repeatedly throughout his career whenever it suited him.
Youre such an idiot. You need to stop listening to Cubby. The Arizona Republic might have been in bed with the Colangelos, but they've shown zero love for Robert Sarver.
I'm sure if he was a little white Canadian who put on a false persona doing save the planet commercials, he'd get away with it.
They've shown plenty of love for Nash.
Coming from you that's a compliment.
I don't think Nash gets away with anything.
What does he get away with?
Playing lazy defense for one. Getting teammates traded.
Maybe the national media is hard on No-D-Steve, but the local journalism is constantly fighting over who's turn it is to toss his salad.
How is that different from the whole Suns team? Knowledgeable fans know he sucks at D. Why worry what bandwagoners and newbies think?
Considering his faults on that end of the floor made it hard for the Suns to get past the Spurs and deal with Tony Parker, I hardly think he or the Suns have "gotten away" with that.
The Shaq trade was done mostly for financial reasons, no? What other guys did he run out of town?Getting teammates traded
Local media does that with every team's star player. It's nothing new.
He ran Marion out of town, which I don't really blame him for, just sayin'.
And yeah, he doesn't get away with it on the court, I meant he gets away with it off the court. For some reason Jason Richardson and Amare are both criticized constantly for bad D, yet Nash doesn't get any criticism.
And the Shaq trade was done because Nash wanted him traded, the article in your le hints at that.
The extent they do it with Nash is unparalleled. An article written a few months back called anyone who criticizes Nash's defense "ignorant".
Who doesn't criticize Nash's bad D? Az. Rep. writers? Bandwagon fans? Why would it bother you what they think? Among knowledgeable fans, scouts, gms and other coaches, he doesn't get a pass.And yeah, he doesn't get away with it on the court, I meant he gets away with it off the court. For some reason Jason Richardson and Amare are both criticized constantly for bad D, yet Nash doesn't get any criticism.
Well, the Suns mgmt knows they're in the middle class of teams that don't have the trade assets to get better, but they're not willing to hemorrhage money doing a T-Wolves style rebuild job. Keeping the franchise financially viable in this economy by selling tickets and replica jerseys is more important that a futile effort to get better or lay the groundwork for a championship contender 6-8 years from now. You may not like it, but basketball is a business first and foremost.And the Shaq trade was done because Nash wanted him traded, the article in your le hints at that.
Notice how this is written in such a way that it's supposed to be a given that anyone Nash wants out of town is a bum and needs to go.
Supposition by the writer of the article.
Because the love affair the fans have with Nash has pressured management to do extremely re ed stuff, most recently give a 35 year old PG an extension for way more than any other team would have given effectively forfeiting the next 3 years as pointless, counterproductive seasons.
I imagine the Suns are in financial trouble and know season ticket sales would plummet if they did what Minny or the Zombie Sonics did and started over with youth. For basketball reasons, it makes no sense. For financial reasons, it makes all the sense in the world.
So maybe you understand my frustration when the team is more concerned with ticket sales than they are with how this team will look in 5 years.
Also, are you really prepared to watch the Suns win 18-25 games a year for the next 3-4 years while they rebuild with youth? It also depends on the Suns mgmt making wise draft choices. The Mavericks went through about five or six 3-year plans in the nineties and kept sucking.
And don't give Robert Sarver the "financial trouble" benefit of the doubt. The Suns have been one of the top teams in net profit since he bought the them, the problem is he didn't buy the Suns because he enjoys basketball and wants to own a winning team, he bought the Suns because he saw an asset he could buy at the right time and flip for a good profit 10 years from when he bought it.
Yes. For 40 years the Suns have been too cheap to suffer through 3 years of bad ticket sales and take a well planned, long term approach. The "stay compe ive while rebuilding" plan simply doesn't work. I'm willing to try anything else at this point.
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