Re: Did Shaq really call Oden Actually He WAS misquoted. What he said was: (sticking to the whole Japanese theme)
In the same article he did speak highly of the Blazers. Let it bake. Thought I'd beat a certain someone to it.
I think that with Shaq, you have to realize the whole Shogun/Ninja thing is a big joke of his. He always jokes about how he is the Shogun, and you have to battle his Ninja's before you get to him. He has joked about this for years since Yao came into the league, and said the same thing when he came in. When Shaq came into the league, there were many battles where Ewing, and Olajuwan both were dominant against him for a few years. I remember some pretty crazy battles where him and Ewing were going at each other, scoring on each other in consecutive posessions and screaming "I am the man" after each bucket. Eventually I remember when Ewing was getting old and Shaq was hitting his stride, that Shaq eventually dominated him. All Shaq is saying, is you have to earn your stripes. Oden has to win some battles. The respect will come after.
Re: Did Shaq really call Oden Who on that team can still ball? Richardson? Stoudemire is injured. Nash is a shadow. Grant Hill isn't even really starter material. Shaq still has some game, but he can't carry a team anymore.
Terry Porter must have been loving that!! Really though it doesn't matter what Shaq says he's gonna be watching the playoff's from home with the kids this year...