5 replies to this topic

[lethalweapon3]

... I'm referring to that dreaded interminable "locker room cancer" label has been affixed to him over the years. Often it seems to be applied to any aging player who's gotten perhaps a little too comfortable around a microphone, and hasn't won something in awhile. A "Type-A" locker room braggadocio and clown? Perhaps. There's plenty of them around, I'm sure. But a cancer?

We all know of his documented (if a bit faux) disdain for Signor Bryant. And we know Phil Jackson's feelings about you can depend on whether you're presently adding Roman numerals to his baseball cap or not. Unlike the Kobe beef, I can't recall any similar queries of the culinary attributes of Shaq's posterior directed toward the likes of Dwyane Wade, Steve Nash, LeBron James, or any other ex-teammates and ex-coaches. Forgive the inappropriate medical allusions, for those suffering with real maladies, but I'd imagine if one were such a cancer, we'd have evidence that his ill effects would spread to other locker rooms as well.

In this thread, can we collect weblinks to statements by coaches, players, GMs "on the record," verifying that he is the locker room Debbie Downer that many of us have grown to envision? Perhaps there are many instances out there, I just want them in one place. I'm not looking for "don't let the doorknob hit you..."-style statements from vexed local beat reporters and ex-fans on forum posts in towns left in Shaq's wake. I'm talking about quotes from people who have actually witnessed the Diesel in action behind the scenes over the course of 20 years. I'm gonna go get my Google on and see what (if any) dirt I turn up as well.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Piling on....

Apologies but in reference to some related earlier threads...

http://www.hawksquaw...-shaq-a-cancer/

Most of that discussion appears to come from this O-Sentinel piece, which lacks much in the way of damning content, and appeared in the wake of a burgeoning one-way feud with the "New Superman" of Orlando.

http://articles.orla...ght-howard-kobe

...I'm looking for statements from players/coaches/GMs, not stuff "overheard" from Ric Bucher or salty Lakers/Heat/Suns/Magic fans.

~lw3

Edited by lethalweapon3, 24 July 2010 - 02:35 PM.

[Diesel]

lethalweapon3, on 24 July 2010 - 02:20 PM, said:

... I'm referring to that dreaded interminable "locker room cancer" label has been affixed to him over the years. Often it seems to be applied to any aging player who's gotten perhaps a little too comfortable around a microphone, and hasn't won something in awhile. A "Type-A" locker room braggadocio and clown? Perhaps. There's plenty of them around, I'm sure. But a cancer?

We all know of his documented (if a bit faux) disdain for Signor Bryant. And we know Phil Jackson's feelings about you can depend on whether you're presently adding Roman numerals to his baseball cap or not. Unlike the Kobe beef, I can't recall any similar queries of the culinary attributes of Shaq's posterior directed toward the likes of Dwyane Wade, Steve Nash, LeBron James, or any other ex-teammates and ex-coaches. Forgive the inappropriate medical allusions, for those suffering with real maladies, but I'd imagine if one were such a cancer, we'd have evidence that his ill effects would spread to other locker rooms as well.

In this thread, can we collect weblinks to statements by coaches, players, GMs "on the record," verifying that he is the locker room Debbie Downer that many of us have grown to envision? Perhaps there are many instances out there, I just want them in one place. I'm not looking for "don't let the doorknob hit you..."-style statements from vexed local beat reporters and ex-fans on forum posts in towns left in Shaq's wake. I'm talking about quotes from people who have actually witnessed the Diesel in action behind the scenes over the course of 20 years. I'm gonna go get my Google on and see what (if any) dirt I turn up as well.

~lw3

I don't thinkt hat Shaq has really been a lockerroom cancer??  That's BS.  The truth is that Shaq has a beef with Kobe because after Kobe got in trouble, he tried to "out" Shaq for his marital infidelities.   That wasn't cool.   Yes, that broke up an already fragile lockerroom.  As the story goes, Shaq was the life of the party in the locker room, Kobe had always been the one who kept to himself.   In the time when Shaq's career was starting to go on the downside (even though he was still very good), Kobe gets in trouble in Denver and then tries to throw Shaq under the bus to draw attention away from himself.  Shaq didn't have to divide the lockerroom in LA.  The Lockerroom was already divided and Kobe made it worse.

[lethalweapon3]

Still crickets thus far...

One correction on the O-Sentinel piece is where Pat Riley was "quoted":

Quote

After being traded by the Heat to Phoenix, O'Neal blasted Miami's medical staff and ripped Riley for surrounding him with mediocre players. "It's so sad when he does this," Riley said.

What was actually said by Riley, in full context, was in the ESPN article:

http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=3314347

Quote

Riley responded to O'Neal's criticisms Wednesday with some of his own, saying his former center was wrong to disparage some of his old teammates and trainers in a Boston Globe story.

"It's sad that he says those things. We shared so much here, together, for three years, good and bad, 3½ years," Riley said, referring specifically to the Heat's 2006 NBA title. "I just think it's sad that he's got to do that."

Riley said he doesn't have "anything but good feelings for Shaq" and wasn't bothered by any criticism leveled at him. But he said O'Neal has no reason to blame anyone else in the organization for his unhappiness.

"When you're 9-40, we're all frustrated. I mean everybody's at fault, we all were. Everybody was feeling bad and nobody wants that," Riley said.

"He didn't want to be there, he didn't want to play for that kind of situation, 35 years old. He wanted to go to a contender and we sent him there. We sent him to Utopia and we're left here with the carnage and I don't know why he's not happy."

Riley also defended the work of veteran trainer Ron Culp and the team's medical staff, saying O'Neal was out of line to speak poorly of them.

"It's really a shame that he would insult those people like that because they gave him care. They cared," Riley said. "They didn't kiss his butt. They cared about him.

"He can do whatever he wants to do to me. That's OK, I don't care. But those men, they tried. ... That upsets me more than anything."

The subtle difference between the two bolded quotes are the difference between: (a) a coach that was used to Shaq saying such things about the team from within when he was there; and (b) disappointment about Shaq saying such things about his former team now that he's been shipped to a new one. In fact, "(b)" seems to be the general theme: mud isn't slung (either at/from Shaq) until AFTER he leaves a team and its city. That's different from being a "locker room cancer" in my estimation. It illustrates the way even journalists will twist words to fit a hometeam-biased agenda.

One other subject frequently cited involves Nash "insisting" on Shaq being traded as a condition for his accepting a contract extension with the Suns. As usual, no direct quotes, just more "sources say" drivel. It may have nothing at all to do with Shaq as a teammate, but Shaq as a business associate.

http://niketalk.yuku...r-Shag-vs-.html

Quote

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."

Another possibility for Nash's "rumored" insistence involves actual basketball logic. As one AZ Republic writer noted:

Quote

The problem isn't a personality clash. It's that Nash and O'Neal can't co-exist on the court. You could not piece together a worse combination to defend the pick-and-roll, one of the most elementary plays in the NBA. It's one of the glaring flaws in this basketball team, and for that and other reasons, O'Neal must be traded in the coming months.

~lw3

[tremor]

Shaq's a Pisces? Pisces don's wash their feet before going to bed. How do I know? Because I'm a Pisces myself.

[lethalweapon3]

http://www.mysananto...s_99185204.html

Another article from a spurned-city sportswriter, but it confirms the perception: Shaq will burn bridges, but not while he's standing on it. That's not the definition of a "cancer."

~lw3