"The first three championships that I won, I won them. I had big numbers and I won them," O'Neal told the AP. "And last year, the guys won it for me. They won it for the big guy. Numbers are overrated. There's a lot of guys in this league who can say they've got great numbers. But they can't say they've got four rings in the last six years."
shaquille o'neal quote
- Thread starter cranrab
- Start date
Don't tell me....Penny was Frado right??
cranrab said:
And in the Finals Five of the last six years
Thanks Cran
I can't wait to see what Kobe has to say about Shaq winning.....
Phil had an interview with Dan Patrick the day after the Heat won and I sensed a little hate.
You know, it's interesting how the guy gets three chances where he could have had more championships than Jordan, but each time his ego got in the way. He could have won at least one with Penny, but that didn't work out. Then, he manages to get three with Kobe, and all of a sudden, he's a great leader. Things turn sour there (is bad luck following this guy?), even though he had a HOF coach, as well as three other HOF players on the line up with him.
He forces Jerry Buss' hand by asking for the maximum amount on his contract and then decides that he wants a trade when he can't get it? Gets traded to the Heat after realizing that the Lakers aren't going to give him top dollar for dragging his overweight, "play-when-I-want-to" ass up and down the court.
Bitter enough to play harder and lose the weight that he should have lost when he was with the Lakers, but still manages to fall short (with the exact same team that he won with in 05-06) of the title. Seeing as how Shaq couldn't possibly get any better, I'll give credit where it should be properly placed.
With hard work by players like Mourning, Posey, Walker (as well as silent contributors like Payton), in addition to a much better coach (enter: Riley) Wade gets better in the off-season (Shaq certainly didn't get any better), the referees give up a hell of a lot more (unnecessary foul) calls in the finals, and as a result, the Heat win.
I'm not saying that Shaq didn't do anything to win his rings. By all means, he was certainly A pivotal piece in the winning of his first three titles. However, he was not alone, as many would erroneously insist.
In his fourth one, I can't help but wonder if another player of Alonzo Mourning's skill and determination wouldn't brought about the exact same results?
He forces Jerry Buss' hand by asking for the maximum amount on his contract and then decides that he wants a trade when he can't get it? Gets traded to the Heat after realizing that the Lakers aren't going to give him top dollar for dragging his overweight, "play-when-I-want-to" ass up and down the court.
Bitter enough to play harder and lose the weight that he should have lost when he was with the Lakers, but still manages to fall short (with the exact same team that he won with in 05-06) of the title. Seeing as how Shaq couldn't possibly get any better, I'll give credit where it should be properly placed.
With hard work by players like Mourning, Posey, Walker (as well as silent contributors like Payton), in addition to a much better coach (enter: Riley) Wade gets better in the off-season (Shaq certainly didn't get any better), the referees give up a hell of a lot more (unnecessary foul) calls in the finals, and as a result, the Heat win.
I'm not saying that Shaq didn't do anything to win his rings. By all means, he was certainly A pivotal piece in the winning of his first three titles. However, he was not alone, as many would erroneously insist.
In his fourth one, I can't help but wonder if another player of Alonzo Mourning's skill and determination wouldn't brought about the exact same results?
I won't post the entire article, but I'll include the link for those references purposes.
"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 team's 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 a contract extension and negotiate some 30 million [dollars] plus per year deal in the media when we have two future Hall of Famers playing here pretty much for free."
“If leaving the Lakers at the end of the season is what I decide, a major reason for that will be Shaq's childlike selfishness and jealousy. He is not my quote unquote "big brother." A big brother would have called to lend his support this summer. I heard absolutely nothing from him… And Shaq's own Uncle Jerome called and left three messages.”
I believe that if Kobe said anything to convince Buss that he was correct in trading Shaq, then the underlined sentence may have been it.
"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 team's 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 a contract extension and negotiate some 30 million [dollars] plus per year deal in the media when we have two future Hall of Famers playing here pretty much for free."
“If leaving the Lakers at the end of the season is what I decide, a major reason for that will be Shaq's childlike selfishness and jealousy. He is not my quote unquote "big brother." A big brother would have called to lend his support this summer. I heard absolutely nothing from him… And Shaq's own Uncle Jerome called and left three messages.”
I believe that if Kobe said anything to convince Buss that he was correct in trading Shaq, then the underlined sentence may have been it.
Havoc said:
where? if i remember correctly, this was the ESPN interview with jim gray, no? the one that came immediately AFTER coach jackson had spoken with both tobe and shaquille o'neal? the one that tobe gave his word to coach jackson that he wouldn't do?
Havoc said:
i love this one, because it PRESUMES that shaquille o'neal WAS INDEED fat and out of shape. I contend that he was neither, and that fans (having no way of dis/proving such a claim) simply swallowed it hook, line and sinker.
i always found it odd that fans overlooked the very obvious and simple explanation for shaquille o'neal's weight while with the fakers. shaquille o'neal has been quoted as saying that the fakers preferred him to remain at a HEAVIER PLAYING WEIGHT.
Havoc said:
leadership in the form of dragging your organization through a sexual assault case? by dragging a teammate's name through the mud in a desperate attempt to save your own? interesting...
Havoc said:
nor do they hold out as the ONLY player in the NBA who votes against the collective bargaining agreement simply because they will not be able to get more than shaquille o'neal, which tobe did. nor do they leverage their current team by dangling themselves as a carrot in front of the clippers... interesting...
Havoc said:
the two future hall of famers, of course, were karl malone and gary payton. both former teammates of shaquille o'neal during the olympics. both who game because of the mutual respect, friendship and admiration they had developed with shaquille o'neal. both of whom were happy to leave the fakers after shaquille o'neal left. one of whom was only to happy to reunite with shaquille o'neal and won a ring. how many hall of fame caliber players can tobe attract?
Havoc said:
oddly emotional outburst, don't you think? it sounds as though he got his feelings hurt. and for the record, shaquille o'neal has said that he did phone tobe and left a message.
Havoc said:
coach jackson offered a very believable narrative of how the entire situation unfolded in his book. it's a quick and enjoyable read, and i highly recommend it.
Didn't Coach Jackson come out with a book that aired his players' dirty laundry? That's bullshit. Your COACH (you know, people that encourage you to confide in them) bad mouths you in the form of a book, and then comes back and expects things to be sweet. Kobe is dumb as hell for that. I'd just as soon play for another team than have him coach the one that I'm on.cranrab said:
Didn't Jerry Buss say the same thing about Shaq? Obviously Phil Jackson is too busy looking to point the finger at someone else for a problem that he ALLOWED to blow up in his face.cranrab said:
I can't help but doubt if Jackson's former players are going to say some of the great things about him that were said about Auerbach, or for that matter, the same stuff that could be said about Riley(in terms of teamwork, and not having a single player above the team, as well as media relations, talking bad about other teammates when you think that you've got a crowd, and showing moral support to your teammates)
cranrab said:
Of course this is the obvious and simple explanation. Because he said it, right? Isn't this the guy that's supposed to be a leader and yet, had sex with Superhead? How's he supposed to lead a team to the playoffs (according to him, by himself) and he can't even lead his wife to his grayer years faithfully? I'm not judging him based on that and neither am I saying that Kobe is any more of a leader than him, but to put him on a higher step than Kobe as if he's just an innocent victim in all of that shit they went through is just absurd.
I'm almost positive that he was referring to the "leadership" role that Shaq wanted while his team was winning. When you think about it, why was Shaq the last to accept his ring yesterday? That distinction clearly belonged to Mr. Wade, who was far more responsible for the title than Shaq, Mourning, or anyone else on that court.cranrab said:
cranrab said:
Wait. I'm not saying that either player is correct, but the general misconception is that Kobe ran Shaq out of town, when in fact, thanks to Jerry Buss and Shaq, we know that to be false. Shaq (like Kobe) wanted more money. Shaq didn't get more money. Buss traded Shaq because Shaq wanted the trade since he couldn't get more money. To make matters worse, Jackson didn't do anything to diffuse the situation between Kobe and Shaq (the "leader"/ego war). Granted, Kobe wanted more money as well (considering how they won the last championship, I'm going to have to agree), although he certainly could have waited a year, or went to Shaq and talked to him about his salary.
I seriously doubt that Shaq alone "attracted" those HOF players. Keep in mind that he did WIN three championships with Kobe Bryant. You know, the guy that was the guard before the other two HOF came. You know, when Robert Horry was still with the Lakers?cranrab said:
cranrab said:
It's amazing how you've managed to buy into the tale that tells the absolute worst of a player without questioning it. You'll have to excuse me for not taking Shaq at face value; I was led to believe that he was a hard working leader that only wanted the best for his team. Not an attention-whore that needs to feel as though he's STILL a big deal. I think that if Miami has a bad season, we can all expect to find Shaq somewhere NOT taking the blame. However, we can always look forward to him reminding us of the immaturity of his(as well as Kobe's) behavior.
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