This guy makes more 180s than my high school geometry teacher!!!
Shaquille O'Neal said he hasn't ruled out a return to the Lakers as a free agent in 2010.
He also claimed he never had a problem with Kobe Bryant while they played together with the Lakers. He said he believes they could have won more titles together if he hadn't been traded to the Miami Heat in 2004.
"I swear to God we never had a problem," O'Neal, now with the Phoenix Suns, said during an interview posted Friday on the Web site of the Sacramento Bee. "On the court, we never had a problem."
Instead, O'Neal blamed their creative tension on Lakers coach Phil Jackson.
"I think it was all designed by Phil," he said. "Because, if you think about it, Phil never called us into the office and said, `Both of you, shut the (heck) up.' Never did that in four years. He knew that when I read something, I was going to get upset. And he knew Kobe was going to always come out and play hard.
"So I think it was all done by design."
Asked if he believed Jackson did it to motivate the players, O'Neal said, "Yeah, I think that's exactly what it was. ... He never called us in a meeting and said, `Shut up.' And basically, it was never a face-to-face ... thing. It was always, he'd say something to you, I'd say something to another guy, I'd say something to you. That's all it was."
Still, O'Neal sounded wistful in reflecting on his Lakers days.
"Now that I look back on it, that (stuff) was kind of fun," he said. "It really
was. It was kind of fun. `What did he say, what did he say?' I tell people if we would have had a reality show, we'd have had the No. 1 reality show in the world.
"It was fun. It was actually fun. (Assistant coach Brian) Shaw would be, `Oh, man, why did you say that?' And then Karl (Malone) would be like, `Yo, that was (messed) up what you said,' then we'd try to outdo each other in the game.
"But while we were trying to outdo each other, the two best players in the game, we were outdoing everyone by far. (Heck), if he was open in the lane, I wasn't going to say, `(The heck with) you, Kobe.' I would still drop it off. But it was actually fun.
"And not only was it fun, we'll always be remembered as the best Lakers one-two punch. I'm going on record as saying we're the best Lakers guard-center punch. You heard if from me. Ever."
Bryant and the Lakers play O'Neal and the Suns next Thursday in Phoenix.
Shaquille O'Neal said he hasn't ruled out a return to the Lakers as a free agent in 2010.
He also claimed he never had a problem with Kobe Bryant while they played together with the Lakers. He said he believes they could have won more titles together if he hadn't been traded to the Miami Heat in 2004.
"I swear to God we never had a problem," O'Neal, now with the Phoenix Suns, said during an interview posted Friday on the Web site of the Sacramento Bee. "On the court, we never had a problem."
Instead, O'Neal blamed their creative tension on Lakers coach Phil Jackson.
"I think it was all designed by Phil," he said. "Because, if you think about it, Phil never called us into the office and said, `Both of you, shut the (heck) up.' Never did that in four years. He knew that when I read something, I was going to get upset. And he knew Kobe was going to always come out and play hard.
"So I think it was all done by design."
Asked if he believed Jackson did it to motivate the players, O'Neal said, "Yeah, I think that's exactly what it was. ... He never called us in a meeting and said, `Shut up.' And basically, it was never a face-to-face ... thing. It was always, he'd say something to you, I'd say something to another guy, I'd say something to you. That's all it was."
Still, O'Neal sounded wistful in reflecting on his Lakers days.
"Now that I look back on it, that (stuff) was kind of fun," he said. "It really
was. It was kind of fun. `What did he say, what did he say?' I tell people if we would have had a reality show, we'd have had the No. 1 reality show in the world.
"It was fun. It was actually fun. (Assistant coach Brian) Shaw would be, `Oh, man, why did you say that?' And then Karl (Malone) would be like, `Yo, that was (messed) up what you said,' then we'd try to outdo each other in the game.
"But while we were trying to outdo each other, the two best players in the game, we were outdoing everyone by far. (Heck), if he was open in the lane, I wasn't going to say, `(The heck with) you, Kobe.' I would still drop it off. But it was actually fun.
"And not only was it fun, we'll always be remembered as the best Lakers one-two punch. I'm going on record as saying we're the best Lakers guard-center punch. You heard if from me. Ever."
Bryant and the Lakers play O'Neal and the Suns next Thursday in Phoenix.