Get ready for a season full of quotes like this (below from Ian Thomsen’s Sports Illustrated story on Shaq):
“Here’s my motivational slogan for next season,” said Shaquille O’Neal last Saturday by phone from his home in Orlando. “A ring for the King. He wants one, and I want another one. A ring for the King, baby!”
“Everybody is going to say, ‘Whose team is it?’ “said O’Neal, two days after the Cavaliers acquired him from the Suns for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a second-round pick and $500,000. “I want you to print that in double-black-bold print. It’s his team. He’s the King, and the Cavs have hired a known hit-man bodyguard. My job is to protect him.”
Of course, this also reminds me that when David Stern tried to hand the Larry O’Brien trophy to Dwyane Wade, Shaq literally intercepted it so that HE could be the one to do the honors. So we should all keep in mind that there are two ways you can interpret all of this stuff. I love Shaq as a personality (and hope to love him as a player this year), but let’s be honest: to think that he’s accepting a sidekick role in his own head is probably a little misguided.
That said, I’m really looking forward to a season full of quotes likes these.
-T
