How much respect do you have for Shaq at this moment? Considering all things, championship runs all the way to him dissing Kobe...just how much do you like this guy? Although I've never liked Shaq, I had the upmost respect for him when he was working hard and playing his best for the Lakers from 1996-2002. Since his last championship, however, he was slowly proving to me that he was going to be a liability to the organization, and a certain problem for other players, such as Kobe. The way I look at this, he's lost all respect from me for many reasons... <ul> [*]he STILL cannot leave Kobe out of his interviews [*]he gloats about bringing a title to Miami, and seems like he's already happier there [*]he weighed 340 lbs at the end of the season with LA, but has worked off alot of weight even though he hasn't played a single game in Miami yet...why couldn't he stay in shape in Los Angeles??? [*]he's assuming a Shaq/Wade duo will be much better than a Kobe/Shaq duo, yet...it took 3 years for them to work...just 2 months of practice with Wade [*]Shaq says it's his team and Kobe was born into the Lakers and Shaq, when Kobe was actually there first (Lakers traded for draft rights to Kobe on the 11th of July in 96, while Shaq signed a week later) [/list] I wish the Heat the best of luck...I like Wade, Eddie Jones, and Dorell Wright...but sometimes I wish Shaq would stub that toe one more time, just to show Miami how worthless he can be. Maybe then he'll stop jumping for rebounds again, and let guys like Chauncey Billups and Tony Parker drive the lane and drop a layup over his head. :thumbsdow Anyways, what is everyone else's opinion on this matter?
Realdealbneal I agree with everything you said. I will re-post what I wrote in another thread; I appreciate Shaq for what he did for LA but if things didn?t go his way or the team was in trouble he didn?t take fault and he would take everything personal. Example, he didn?t want Jones so he traded him and if he had a choice he would have also traded KB and if the team were to lose he would always blame it on the rest of the team. Unlike KB and Karl they both either took the blame or it was a team mistake. Like Yanix said ?everywhere Shaq goes he always has something to complain about? and again is never his fault. Like someone said in the LA Times readers opinion section "Dr. Buss made a choice between who thinks of money before playing and who plays before thinking of money.? Also I think Shaq loves to pick on KB because he knows that KB won?t fire back, KB unlike Shaq has respect. So much for what he said in the Heat conference My Mom taught me respect so I won't talk about KB but minutes later you hear all this crap that?s directed towards KB. Thank You Shaq but I think you living brings a new positive atmosphere to the team. No more winning about the toe, how much money you want, and how no one passed you the ball but you never seem to ask for it.
I agree completely with Realdealbneal and Jesseca. Shaq has been lacking since 2002 or just not playing as hard as he was from 96-01. I think he started getting lazy during or after the 3rd championship and concentrated less on playing and staying in shape and was more concerned about who's team it was and whose fault the latest loss was, and failed to actually realize that some of the stuff the Lakers went thru were HIS fault as well, not just Kobe's or any of the others'. If you saw Shaq in 2000 and if you saw Shaq in 04, you'd realize just how much he has fallen off. Yes, he's still dominant, but not as much, and no, age is a cheap excuse to use. He can still stay in shape, he is only 32. He was 28 then. He wanted the rebounds then, he wanted the blocks then whereas now, a weak offensive center like Wallace just drives past him and lays it over him while he's not even quick enough to move over and attempt to block it. Or guys like Rip getting offensive rebounds over him. Wouldn't happen then yet it happened often last year. It's cool that he has revenge on his mind in Miami but its stupid that he needed something like this to get his motivation back. If he'd just spend more time staying in shape instead of making cheap remarks while in LA, then maybe the Lakers would be in thier 5th straight off-season after a title. (Actually, I don't believe they could have beaten the Spurs in '03)
i agree.. i dont respect shaq the way i used to before. if u saw the pistons game he never gave any effort to block Billups when he drove against him. and now u see him skinnier than he was before in the Lakers. Big Daddy Shaq is now Big Baby Shaq cuz he whines too much.
I had respect for Shaq. But if the Lakers just traded him normally without the player crying. Thats wut he did no more respect now.
This is an excellent thread realdealbneal, and this really has me thinking a lot about how I feel about him..... Being a Laker fan, it was excellent watching Shaq play on national television for years. Watching him having his way in the post, dunking over people sometimes two people at a time, scoring 30-40 points a night, cracking jokes during news conferences and showing up opponents, the championships. Those were the good old days. I appreciate everything Shaq did in giving us our three championships, (let's face it....without Shaq in the middle, we wouldn't have three banners to look at in the rafters) but with Shaq being in Miami now and everything that has occured since his departure, I have close to no respect for him. I'm gonna take realdealbneal's comments off the bat and say, he for one never respected Kobe. They might've looked happy at times playing together and what not but all of that was just false television. If all of us fans can actually sit and wonder in awe about it, if those two amazing athletes put their differences aside, and learned to co-exist with each other, we would've been a huge Laker empire with perhaps six or seven straight titles off the bat. Because if we can look back at 2000 and 2001 especially, those teams were just unstoppable. And imagine what would happen if these two played with a chip on their shoulder each and every night with amazing role players? Look out. And it hurts for me to read that Shaq actually went into a gym, and shed some pounds because we all know he looked old and drained out last season. And he took all that time out to do all the conditioning activities with the Heat? But it was like pulling teeth with LA? The Shaq/Wade combination would work out so much better than Kobe/Shaq when in fact Kobe and Shaq needed one another to get the team rolling and themselves on the right track to success? And let's face it.....without O'Neal coming to Los Angeles in 1996, he never would've been what the Lakers made him today, and he knows that for a FACT. Now I'm really looking forward to XMas day. Hopefully Kobe can drive to the hoop and dunk on his face. That'll be the sweetest moment in the NBA next year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Emo:</div><div class="quote_post"> And it hurts for me to read that Shaq actually went into a gym, and shed some pounds because we all know he looked old and drained out last season. And he took all that time out to do all the conditioning activities with the Heat? But it was like pulling teeth with LA? </div> I feel your pain Emo.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jesseca328:</div><div class="quote_post">I feel your pain Emo.</div> But through all this Jesseca, it's good we now have a team like this without Shaq in the middle. It's about moving on, thinking ahead to the bright future of Los Angeles Lakers basketball, and most importantly, so haters can recognize true fans from the bandwagoners. Bandwagoners follow Shaq wherever he goes, true fans stay loyal through the good and bad times.
To Laker Fans in General: Do any of you feel that Shaq shafted the Fans of The Lakers,and do any of you feel like life will be better without Shaq as a Laker??
Shaq didn't shaft the Laker fans, it was all about himself. He demanded Jerry Buss to give him a contract extension just yelling at him in Hawaii, actually said he can find cheaper players that would play for the Lakers so that he can be greedy and take the remaining cash afterwards, couldn't lose weight although it was like pulling teeth...but had all the time to lose it in Miami, had no respect for Kupchak or Kobe, the list goes on like a continuous cycle full of drama and for us fans sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for the next episode to start. PRIDE, PRIDE, and MORE PRIDE! And if he couldn't take a backseat to anything, or have a bit of class for a change, his ass should be kicked out the door. Life will be much better for the Lakers as we take out a huge piece of a cancer and move forward.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Emo:</div><div class="quote_post">Both. Shaq didn't shaft the Laker fans, it was all about himself. He demanded Jerry Buss to give him a contract extension just yelling at him in Hawaii, actually said he can find cheaper plays that would play for the Lakers so that he can be greedy and take the remaining cash afterwards, had no respect for Kupchak or Kobe, the list goes on like a continuous cycle full of drama and for us fans sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for the next episode to start. Life will be much better for the Lakers as we take out a huge piece of a cancer and move forward.</div> Some sports call in shows on the radio,i've heard some Laker fans talking bout being shafted and dissed,and all that.in certain elements,yes the Laker fans do and should feel that way,cause it seems that Shaq cared for himself,and that's about it. Another thing is i feel he didn't want to be 2nd banana to Kobe while playing for the Lakers,i feel he felt playing in Miami he could be the focal point in the Heat organzation,so he just figured in my opinon that he couldn't be the star of the show in LA,so move on to somewhere he could be??/ Anybody think like what i've said makes sense??
I lost respect for him when he started crying. Athletes think so high of themselves these days... Eli Manning, Shaq, etc.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MR_SAC_KING:</div><div class="quote_post">Some sports call in shows on the radio,i've heard some Laker fans talking bout being shafted and dissed,and all that.in certain elements,yes the Laker fans do and should feel that way,cause it seems that Shaq cared for himself,and that's about it.</div> That makes sense. Since he was up for only himself, and not caring about what he could do to make the team better, co-exist with Kobe and put all differences aside, and be patient with our financial status, then yes he did diss us quite a bit. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting MR_SAC_KING:</div><div class="quote_post">Another thing is i feel he didn't want to be 2nd banana to Kobe while playing for the Lakers,i feel he felt playing in Miami he could be the focal point in the Heat organzation,so he just figured in my opinon that he couldn't be the star of the show in LA,so move on to somewhere he could be??</div> It was just a big battle on who would be the number one priority that's all. Who meaning Shaq and Kobe of course. Nobody wanted to be Robin so to speak, they wanted to be Batman. And if those two amazing players couldn't co-exist with each other, something had to give. Somebody had to be the odd man out, and it was Shaq. Excellent move by our front office IMO.
One of the things that really infuriated me about Shaq is how he would not work during the offseason. He was demanding half of the Lakers' payroll while not commiting in the offseason to stay in shape and after getting taken out by the Spurs, there was little to no improvement in his weight. Another thing was his constant whining about the lack of talent sorrounding him. When asked to take a KG-like paycut in order to get some better players, he refused. I know Shaq took some classes at LSU about economics but he must have been absent during the lecture about money not growing on trees. It was all about choices and he made it clear he was looking out only for himself. I find it funny how he was talking about being a team player in the present form this offseason because I haven't seen it in a long time.
Things I've noticed that were bad about losing all that weight...he's going to have a huge problem with finishing after the foul, and he'll be more injury-prone when guys like Wallace and Magloire have to hack him when he's taking the ball up. Without all that bulk, there's a bigger chance that he'll get knocked around just a little more...which means he's more prone to injury...which means Miami will be in some serious trouble. Does anyone remember when Hakeem Olajuwon dominated Shaq in the Finals (Magic/Rockets)??? Shaq wasn't even as big as he is now...and Hakeem wore him out. This will more than likely happen again soon, especially since he's smaller and older...guys like Yao Ming and even Emeka Okafor and Dwight Howard (in a few years) will eat him alive offensively. All of these factors really put a smile on my face , knowing that we have gotten rid of the highest paid player in the league (getting paid $29.4 million) and also a guy who couldn't stay in shape and is planning on retirement soon (remember, he commented about getting his Masters and retiring in a couple years on SportsCenter interview). He was turning out to be a liability in our organization, and now that he's gone, it's either rebuilding or surprising everyone...and I'm leaning towards the <u>surprising</u>.
As a Kings fan,i believe the Lakers got a great deal trading Shaq.no use of carrying Shaq with his attitude,and quite frankly the past few years he really seemed out of shape to me.perhaps the Lakers will have a stronger team because of the Shaq Trade.i guess we will see about this.
From calling Kobe "his idol" and "the best player in the NBA" to dissing him publicly... this guy just speaks based entirely on his mood. I guess Shaq made those flattering comments in the 2001 playoffs just because he was happy his team won the game (Game 1, Conference Final against Spurs) that Kobe actually won it (48 pts). I believe his comments were based on respect for Kobe but I guess he's willing to say or admit it simply because he was just too happy at that moment. Then when the last two season Lakers failed to win the championships, he felt he had to vent his frustration at someone, but that someone has gotta be someone who was not close to him so if the relationships were to be broken, he'd have nothing to lose. Phil? No, Shaq's pretty close to him. Kobe? Yes!
Emo and Mr._Sac I agree with both of you and you guys are right it was always about ME, ME, ME for Shaq never about WE, WE, WE. But it will all be good cause the cancer has left the building.
