He says nothing lingers from summer's quick coaching change.

By Sekou Smith
[email protected]
December 3, 2003


PORTLAND, Ore. -- Jermaine O'Neal would like to set the record straight one last time.

He is not upset that Rick Carlisle replaced Isiah Thomas as coach of the Indiana Pacers three weeks before training camp began.

O'Neal also has moved past his initial anger over the unexpected firing of Thomas.

And finally, O'Neal is content playing for the Indiana Pacers. He said he's where he wants to be.

"It's only been a month but it's been great," O'Neal said of his still developing relationship with his new coach. "I have no problem at all with Rick. I like what he does and the stuff that he's put in, and he's a proven winner.

"I have no problem with the organization. It's a business. And the bottom line is if the head guy, who is the man who owns the company, doesn't want someone below him, that person's got to go. It doesn't matter how a person below the owner feels because it's his team and his money.

"You can feel bad about it for a certain amount of time but then you have to move on."

Back in the city where he began his NBA career as a precocious 17-year-old on the preps-to-the-pros pipeline, the 25-year-old O'Neal will step onto the Rose Garden floor tonight against Portland's Trail Blazers as the unquestioned leader of the Pacers and one of the league's true stars.

"You can name the guys better than him on one hand. It might not even be the whole hand. Either way, he's a monster," Phoenix Suns coach Frank Johnson said after O'Neal's dominating 32-point, 14-rebound, eight-block performance in the Pacers' 89-82 win Monday night in Phoenix.

Carlisle said he saw signs of things to come during O'Neal's rookie season with the Trail Blazers. Carlisle was a Blazers assistant coach then. It was his duty to check on the rookie and make sure O'Neal was adjusting to life thousands of miles from his South Carolina home.

Carlisle also worked extensively with O'Neal before games and during and after practices, a common responsibility for assistant coaches around the league.

"I know Rick hasn't spoken a lot about it," O'Neal said, "but he was the guy who used to come over to my house and check on me. It was a tough time for me, coming out of high school and not really playing when you wanted to show everybody what you could do.

"It was pretty cool, too. It was just kind of talking in general. He was feeling me out and trying to figure out where I was mentally."

Both men said the relationship they had then closely resembles the one they have now.

Carlisle calls O'Neal in his hotel room on the road or on his cell phone just to gauge his mood as well as the pulse of the team.

It's not the mentor-pupil relationship O'Neal had with Thomas. O'Neal said Thomas remains his close friend and confidant -- they live just a few minutes away from each other.

"It's an evolving relationship," Carlisle said. "Listen, I'm not just going to walk in here in September and be a close confidant of a guy like Jermaine or anybody else on this team. Trust and respect is a two-way street and has to be earned. But I'm in this for the long haul with Jermaine and this team, and as time goes along we'll learn more about each other."

The past three weeks, O'Neal's play has spoken for itself.

Like everyone else in the building Tuesday at Phoenix, Carlisle's jaw dropped during a sequence in the game's final minutes. O'Neal came from out of bounds to block an Amare Stoudemire shot under the basket, then raced down the floor to convert a layup and free throw to help seal the win.

"He was unbelievable," Carlisle said as he walked toward the Pacers locker room after the game. "Unbelievable. It's been great to see him get the opportunity and take advantage of it."

Carlisle also has an appreciation for the professionalism and respect O'Neal displayed during a trying time two months ago.

"The first time I spoke to Jermaine was the Saturday before I took the job and he was in Puerto Rico with the (U.S.) national team," Carlisle said. "He made it clear to me in that conversation that any issues he had had nothing to do with me, and I appreciated that.

"He was completely on board with everything. Anything I could have possibly asked from him, he's given that and much more. He's about winning and he'll do whatever he can to help this team win. And you can't ask a guy for anything more than that."