LAKER MEGA-POST! Some excellent, MUST-READ snippets from "Madmen's Ball":

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

   
About Shaq:
    O'Neal actually seemed the most comfortable in his role and his skin. He was down to earth, approachable, and had a sense of humor. he was respectful of elders, so even if rival centers like David Robinson were leery of him, the veterans liked him. Jordan thought he was cool. Barkley said O'Neal and Ewing were the two nicest guys in the NBA.
    But as the years went by and O'Neal climbed even higher until the lord of all surveyed, you could see the trip getting to him. He started putting the Superman logo everywhere: tattooed on one bicep, etched in the glass of the front door of his house, in the grillwork of his Escalade.
    Now it seemed the best of times were never good enough. There was always something to complain about, starting with coaches who called him to account, and, worst of all, teammates who didn't kiss the ring, like, say, Kobe Bryant.



About Kobe:
    Bryant looked like everyone's little brother, but he was calm and uruffled, expressing surprise at nothing and bemusement if anyone questioned his confidence. It wouldn't be long before Laker staffers would be saying the fun-loving, goof-off O'Neal seemed like the teenager and the sober, driven Bryant, the grownup.
    Bryant would always be described as mature, a word thrown around mindlessly on the sports pages. What he was really was poised, focused, and serene in his quest. He knew where he was going, and nothing culd stop him; any misadventures along the way, he knew, were temporary



Shaq quote:
     After a win at Phoenix, an exultant O'Neal proclaimed, "I'm glad I'm the general manager of this team. I've got this team just the way I want it".



Shaq's first jabs:
     And so it started. O'Neal began dropping hints about "stupid, idiotic play," then more pointed hints, as when he told reporters "You guys know the real problem. You're just too scared to write about it"
     Finally, O'Neal just laid it out there. He had a deal with CBS Sportsline, and on a trip to Oakland, he expressed his doubts, in what amounted to the first shot fired in a struggle that would run for years.
     "What is this, an experiment?" O'Neal said. "Nobody waited for me when I came in the league. The pressure was there as soon as I started to play. That's my job. Why wait? I'm not going to be here that long that I want to wait years for him (Bryant) to figure it out."
      For his part, Bryant was mystified. His belief in himself was such, he thought everyone approved of what he did as much as he did. Nor did he sense any problem with O'Neal, who, Bryant noted, never complained to him about anything.



Shaq's primadonna attitude:
      After a loss to San Antonio, Shaq stomped back to the dressing room and overturned the cart holding the TV and VCR.



Shaq's frustrations:
      In three seasons with the Lakers, O'Neal had only been as far as the conference finals once, and had seen his team booted out by scored of 4-1, 4-0, and 4-0. He bailed on the breakup meeting, as usual, and flew back to his Orlando mansion. He was only a year away from being able to opt out, and teammates were worried. "He was crazy upset," said one. "Maybe he had an excused absence?" Derek Harper jokingly said.



Shaq Quote:     "I sorta' gave the organization an ultimatum," O'Neal said. "This is my eighth year. I'm tired of winning 50, 60 games and going home early.  Get me somebody that can take us to the next level"



Laker dynasty dysfunctions:     
     Bryant's problems would one day overshadow all that had gone before, making it seem as if he;d been the issue all along, but he was just another part of another Lakers triangle. Like Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, and Elgin Balor in the sixties, the tension between Bryant, Jackson, and O'Neal were ongoing, and alliances were shifting but there was a weird stability there, too. They lasted five seasons and won three titles to two and none for Jerry, Elgin, and Wilt.
    With the new Lakers dynasty, you didn't have to imagine the possibilities , which presented themselves in headlines daily. Jackson and O'Neal were at odds as much of the time as O'Neal and Bryant were at odds.



Shaq's motivation:
     O'Neal used to joke that when he won a title, he'd come back looking like the Hindenburg. He turned out to be as good as his jest, coming in heavy for camp in what would become a rite of autumn.



Shaq's original trade request:
     After a loss in Phoenix (2001), O'Neal told GM Mitch Kupchak he wanted to be traded. At the All-Star game in Washington, DC, O'Neal told Orlando's Sentinel's Brian Schmitz he'd love to return to the Magic. When Schmitz asked if he was serious, O'Neal replied, "Look in my eyes. I'm not lying. I love Tracy McGrady. I could play with him. He;s the most unselfish player of all the young guys. He's the model for the next NBA stars."



Shaq vs. Phil
     Now, O'Neals problem became Jackson. O'Neal had accepted Jackson's jibes at first, calling Jackson, "my white father," but that was when O'Neal was still in the 325-pound range. Now he was coming in heavier every fall and taking half the season to play himself into shape.
    At the end of the 2001 season, he had vowed to come back at his rookie weight, under 300, as a lean, mean rebounding machine. Instead, he spent the summer tending to foot injuries and came back closer to 400. Bill Walton noted, "Shaq is a virtual house. If Charles Barkley can get on a scale on national TV, why can't he?"
     Replied O'Neal "I'll do that when Bill Walton takes his toupee off." When he was told Walton didn't wear one, O'Neal tried, "look, doesn't matter how much you weigh when you can play....How many rings did Bill Walton get anyway?"
    The answer was two in the NBA and three in the NCAA. "Bill's got two, too?" said O'Neal. "Oh, I didn't know that."



Shaq vs. Phil 2:
      Jackson was so worried (about Shaq) now, it even showed. He talked to O'Neal about turning it up, but their discussion didn't go well. Using the press to press O'Neal, Jackson announced, "I had a heated conversation with Shaq, actually, about getting actively involved in chasing the ball down. He said, basically, his toe (hurt)."
     O'Neal was boycotting the press, as he had been for weeks. When one of the guys followed him as he walked to his car, O'Neal told him, "Ask Phil, he knows every other fucking thing."
    Game 3 was a nail-biter, in which the Lakers nearly bit eachothers heads off. In the second quarter, Malik Rose took 2 offensive rebounds over Shaq. In the next time out, Jackson said something to O'Neal, who smirked and waved him away. Moments later, as Jackson tapped his clipboard with a marker, O'Neal turned away again; this time Brian Shaq stepped between them.
     O'Neal wound up with 22 points and 15 rebounds.  Kobe took over at the end, scoring 11 of his 31 in the 4th quarter, and the Lakers won, 99-89.
    They won game 4 too, 87-85, with O'Neal, who was blocked out by Danny Ferry, reaching over him to keep a key offensive rebound alive late in the game. "I knew I had to get it," O'Neal said. "I didn't feel like hearing Phil's mouth."



Shaq's pattern:
    The pattern was the same. O'Neal had foot problems over the summer, came in heavy, took months to get into shape, and got mad at Jackson.
    O'Neal was like a horse who runs in handicap races; when he won, he'd show up the next time out, carrying another 25 pounds. He had meant to come back in better shape, but the problem started, as usual, in the summer, which he didn't like to interrupt for things like surgery.


Shaq, always upset with someone?:
    Not that O'Neals pique at teammates came as any surprise after Shaq vs. Kobe, Shaq vs. Phil, Shaq vs. Del Harris, Eddie Jones, Nic Van Exel, Fred Hickman, Brian Hill, Penny Hardaway, et al. It was almost like there was a pattern. However, if O'Neal was mad at everyone else, he and Bryant were fine.



Shaq talking shit:
    Meanwhile, on the charter flight over, with Kobe gone for a trial hearing, O'Neal entertained teammates with jokes at Bryant's expense. Continuing in a similar vein the next day, when O'Neal was asked how he felt about Kobe's absence, he said, "The full team is here." So much for the interlude in the feud.



Shaq vs. Kobe, to the max:
     O'Neal suggested Kobe pass the ball more as he was getting in shape. The next day, Bryant, who never used to react, reacted. "I know how to play the guard spot," he said. "He can worry about the low post and I'll worry about mine."
    Replied O'Neal: "Just asked Karl and Gary why they came here. One person. Not two. One. Period. So he's right, I'm not telling him how to play his position, but he needs advice on how to play team ball. As we start this new season, shit's gotta be done right. If you don't like it, then you can opt out next year. If it's going to be my team, I'll voice my opinion. If he don't like it, he can opt out...I ain't going nowhere."
   Kobe replied: "There's more to life than who's team it is, but this is his team, so it's time for him to act like it. That means no more coming into camp fat and out of shape when your team is relying on your leadership on and off the court. It also means no more blaming others for our teams failure or blaming staff members for not over-dramatizing your injuries so that you avoid blame for your lack of conditioning. Also, 'my team' doesn't mean only when we win. It means carrying the burden of defeat just as gracefully as you carry a championship trophy. Leaders don't beg for contract extensions and negotiate some $30-million-plus deal in the media when we have two future hall of famers playing here basically for free. A leader would not demand the ball when you have three of us besides you, not to mention the teammates that he's gone to war with for the past 3 years...By the way, you also don't threaten not to play defense and rebound if you don't get the ball every time down the floor."



Shaq, the stubborn baby:
    They won their opener at home, walking on the Mavericks. Bryant stayed in the dressing room in the first half, but came out on the bench in the second, sat down next to O'Neal, and tapped him on the leg. Shaq didn't as much as turn his head in acknowledgement.



Shaq loves injuries:
    O'Neal, running low on entusiasm right on schedule, joked with Payton about faking an injury so they could go on the injured list together. Luckily for O'Neal, he popped a calf muscle in a January 2nd loss in Seattle and got to take the rest of the month off.



Payton blames Shaq:
    Gary Payton after a loss in San Antonio: "I can't stop Tony Parker. Yeak, OK, that's great. Let me get you in the pick-and-roll 65 times and I bet I'll beat you too. You can put it on me. Whatever you want to do. Somebody's got to be the scapegoat. But you guys don't want to put it on on' who-it's-really-supposed-to-be, huh?"
    And who might that be? "You tell me, then," Payton said, laughing. "I don't know."
    Of course, it was O'Neal, who hung so far back on pick-and-rolls, Laker opponents started running them as soon as they got off the plane.



Byron Scott on Kobe:
   "He's different", said Byron Scott about Kobe, a teammate in his rookie season. "He would have done well in the eigthies with us. At least, he showed me a tremendous amount of respect back when we were working at practice and I would tell him things that he would try to work on, and I don't think he was doing it for show. He was very interested in hearing about our team in the eighties, and we would just sit down and talk about that. He's totally different than a lot of the guys that are coming into the league with the big heads and the egos and things like that."

[wcsoldier]

Stop trying homie you know people will always say the same shit : that's 100% Kobe fault ... Kobe sure has his part of responsalibity but Shaq sure too ... if they both had handled their "work" relationship better  and Shaq being pro instead of resting some parts of the regular seasons , we would have now at least as many titles as Boston ...

[GangstaBoogy]

Doesn't matter, he's still selfish, he cheated on his wife, and he ran Shaq out of town. Shaq is my hero. Lebron > Kobe



Nah but seriously props for those quotes. I gotta check that book out.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Stop trying homie you know people will always say the same shit : that's 100% Kobe fault ... Kobe sure has his part of responsalibity but Shaq sure too ... if they both had handled their "work" relationship better  and Shaq being pro instead of resting some parts of the regular seasons , we would have now at least as many titles as Boston ...

What are you talking about? I'm just posting up snippets from a book which details the behaviour of those within the Laker organization..It's up to the people to be the judge.


In fact, here's my first opinion in this whole thread;
I believe that if Shaq was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, lets say, or someone more serious about the game of basketball, the Lakers would still be THEE team and Kobe would still be winning rings on the undisputably greatest dynasty ever...PeACe

[wcsoldier]

Stop trying homie you know people will always say the same shit : that's 100% Kobe fault ... Kobe sure has his part of responsalibity but Shaq sure too ... if they both had handled their "work" relationship better  and Shaq being pro instead of resting some parts of the regular seasons , we would have now at least as many titles as Boston ...

What are you talking about? I'm just posting up snippets from a book which details the behaviour of those within the Laker organization..It's up to the people to be the judge.

  I just said you know others posters still will post Shaq is a god type of answers even when you are bringing serious "proofs" like these

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

^I feel ya...I'm not here to change anyones mind. I just like to present facts. I'm sure most people already know what's up...PeACe

[wcsoldier]

I don't  think most of them don't really think what they write it down .. it's obvious it's like a game for them to try to piss the Lakers fans off because they feel there are too many Lakers related topics here ...

[WC Iz Active]

shaq is such a fuckin faggot

[Fuck Your Existence]

Shaq's a bigger douchebag than i thought he was...

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Shaq vs. Phil Jackson 3:
     More trouble followed. Given permission to take a day off for the birth of his daughter, O'Neal took two without calling in, and Jackson announced he'd be fined. "I'm taking care of business," O'Neal said when he rejoined the team. "When it comes to family, I don't have to call anybody. And that fine? That motherfucker knows what he can do with that fine. You write that too."

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

"When I was 19, I was talking to every girl. I was buying every car. And when I got my first NBA money, I was buying the freshest Benz. I'm getting the rims, I got the windows down, I got gold chains, I'm back in the hood lettin the boys know I made it...Kobe? Stays in the house and reads."
-Shaquille O'Neal.

[GangstaBoogy]

Aye do you have any quotes or specific examples of his behavior in Orlando? I always wondered just what went down with him and Penny and the coaching staff.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Aye do you have any quotes or specific examples of his behavior in Orlando? I always wondered just what went down with him and Penny and the coaching staff.

Yes...Plenty...Maybe I'll make a part 2 for Magic fans.

[GangstaBoogy]

Yeah do that. And if you happen to have any specifics about his unexplained life long rivalry with Eddie Jones - post up.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

These were all from the second half of the book...I was typing up some interested excerpts as I was reading it. There's a lot more interesting shit in it, you should read the whole thing. But I'll post the rest when I have time...PeACe