s_knight8

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/auto/epaper/editions/thursday/sp
orts_045fcfc7a306a0f5003b.html

MIAMI -- The allegations are out there about Heat center Shaquille O'Neal.

He's fat. He's lazy. He's on the downside.

Not true, O'Neal said Wednesday, his first day as a member of the Heat.

"You know what it is?" O'Neal said. "A couple guys from the Lakers'
organization kept putting that out there. But I was told by Phil Jackson,
especially after that first championship, 'Just take it easy.' After the
first year I took it easy and we won two. After the third year, I took it
easy and had foot surgery. Then when the power started to shift the way they
wanted it to, that's when we started having problems.

"When I was young, I did all that (stuff) and obviously it didn't work. I
would actually be tired going into the playoffs. But if you take it easy and
do whatever it takes, it's a long season and you can work your way up. And I
don't know how I was out of shape averaging 27-10."


Heat President Pat Riley tried to stave off talk of the Heat's rigorous
physical requirements when he met with O'Neal on Saturday in Orlando.

But O'Neal bragged that he had 15 percent body fat on his 7-foot-1,
340-pound body (some think he might have been as much as 380 during the
playoffs) and wanted to know what will be required of him.

"I said, 'Well, let me tell you what we've done here in the past,' " Riley
began. " 'Our perimeter players always had to be 8 percent and under and our
big guys always had to be under 10 percent.'

"And I heard silence," Riley said. "But it was a good silence. He said,
'coach, I'll be there.' Now don't hold me to that, but I just told him what
our factors were and our requirements for guys.

"He is very, very concerned, he's very motivated. Concerned about his health
and he wants to play a long time so I think he realizes as much as anybody
he's going to have to change some of the things he's done. He's not the
young man that he was, but he can take care of those problems."


O'Neal criticized Heat guard Eddie Jones, a former Lakers teammate, in his
book, saying Jones didn't want to take big shots. O'Neal said everything is
fine now.

"Me and Eddie, we're cousins by marriage," O'Neal said. "He said some
things, I said some. This right here is a whole new era. I spoke to Eddie
(Wednesday). Eddie knows when I come down there I'm coming down there for
strictly business."

O'Neal said he could bring former Lakers teammates, too.

He said forwards Karl Malone and Robert Horry want to play in Miami, and
guard Gary Payton might be interested.

"I haven't spoken with Gary, but I've spoken with Karl and I've spoken with
Robert," he said.

"Any of those guys on that Lakers team might want to come here, too,
including Gary. Of course they want to come play."

As for choosing the Heat, it seemed serendipitous.

"Believe it or not, I was thinking of buying a house down in that area,
anyway," O'Neal said. "This is a blessing in disguise.... I always take my
kids down to Fort Lauderdale and rent a boat and go in the ocean and I
wanted to buy a house down there, anyway. Everything happens for a reason.
This is just destiny."

peter l

This is hilarious. Maybe he can take Fox and Fisher too. All the old
people ends up in Miami.

user

Is there no end to this guy's ego? He just doesn't stop. Shaq, please
just shut the f**k up and go work out or something. Damn!

the blue

shaq go work out, if by work out you mean have his chef make slave over
a grill to make him a few slabs of rib's. then is working hard as we
post im sure. I can see Shaq now sitting around eating ribs in a
beefcake tank top. Saying to himself I am so great im really filling
nice now; hey farnsworth more spice in the sauce next slab.
--
Must fight it must , i must fight my A.D.D , what was i talking about
oh never mind oooo what that over there

agakhan

lol, kyle farnsworth, the cubs pitcher, is shaq's chef?

max taylor

So I wonder what will happen if Shaq doesn't meet the 10% body fat
requirement.
Maybe the Heat will suddenly change their rules to accommodate Fat
Albert? I hope not. I hope they make his fat ass work to get in shape.

gk1@lycos.com

no no no, you got it all wrong. shaq is working out, doing yet
another set of whopper curls.

"and lift...and bite...and lift...and bite...next whopper....and
lift...."

LMAO shaq under 10% body fat, yeah right.

maybe he'll try the south beach diet. but he won't start until the
season. it is unreasonable to expect him to work or do anything
work-related unless it is on company time.

G

chainsaw

Over the top and cynical and sarcastic and nasty.....but pretty funny. :-)


I think there's at least some chance he's going to start
plotting his "Season of Revenge" this summer and drop
down to 320.

gk1@lycos.com

that's true, just about the only way to motivate shaq is to bruise his
feelings.

and i am pretty sure he feels like he got a raw deal here in LA.

someone talked about shaq sitting out the games against us, but i have
a feeling he will be going for 40-20 every time we meet.

but as to getting down to 320, i really don't think it's possible.
maybe it's his metabolism, maybe it's just that he likes food too
much, but i can't see it happening.

G

dave zero

Oh, definitely. The first time we play Miami, look for Shaq AND Kobe to
both go for more than 40 points and try to demonstrate exactly who the
better player is, head-to-head.


--
Dave Zero

"And I don't care about making an ass out of myself because most people
already realize I am one." - Dr. Kary B. Mullis

"I criticize by creation" - Cicero

"I'm not here to make people happy. I prefer to piss people off." - Liam
Gallagher