Grow up.
For someone trying to shed his man-child image, Shaq sure hasn't done a lot to help himself. Both on and off the court, his questionable work ethic and heart are the reasons why I can't respect him as a player.
We've all heard him be called Shaq-Diesel, Shaq-Daddy, and Shaq-Fu. Now we can add Shaq-Fool.
He cracked back on Lakers Rick Fox and Eddie Jones, who kept jacking up threes but ended just 4-for-12 from behind the arc against the Wizards: "We've got a lot of Rex Chapman wannabes on this team. Those off-balance, one-legged, fadeaway threes won't get it done in this league."
There's nothing wrong with scolding your teammates. But you do it in private, behind closed doors. You don't use the media or go public with your problems. Sure, they shouldn't have been throwing up bad shots. But let's look at Shaq's free-throw percentage for the season. It's a robust 49.6 percent. In the loss in question, he went just 4-of-9.
He turned his wrath towards the officials next, saying: "No, I don't get no calls [at home], either. It don't matter. I might have to break somebody's facial structure to get a call. I might have to do that next game. If they don't want to get them off me, I'll get them off myself. If they want to fine me for my comment, take double. I don't care. Take triple."
What the NBA should do is sit Shaq's butt on the bench by suspending him a few games. Not only is publicly criticizing officials a no-no, what's this crap about breaking somebody's "facial structure"? Has he seen the video of Kermit Washington leveling Rudy Tomjanovich? Does he get a kick out of that?
Besides, if Shaq had to watch himself shoot free throws, he wouldn't call fouls on himself either. Watching him put up those wobbling one-handers is pathetic.
Before he continues to threaten players with facial rearrangement, complain about the refs, or affront the rules of grammar, he needs to get in the gym and shoot some free throws.
When he entered the league, everyone thought free-throw shooting was his only weakness, but they were wrong because they incorrectly assumed that his first priority was winning.
His shoe commercial, with the line "I've got 10 fingers and no rings" almost takes pride in his lack of championships. That's pathetic--if he cared, he'd say no to some of the money and do what it takes to improve for the team's sake.
In the loss to Washington, Shaq blew a dunk, missed a bunch of lay-ups, turned the ball over five times, and had a flagrant foul. Don't point the finger, Shaq. Be a leader, and be a winner.
He's an All-Star now because of his physical talent. He can be so much more.
No one is ever going to confuse Shaq with a total jerk like Latrell Sprewell. Nevertheless, Shaq turns 26 tomorrow. He's not a young phenom any more, he's an established star. It's time for him to act like it.
Don't let these two stories get you totally down, however. For every punk like Sprewell, there's a class guy like Hakeem Olajuwon. And for every complainer like O'Neal, there's a stand-up guy like Michael Jordan. But it seems like the good guys are getting older, and the younger generation doesn't have the same attitude. Their behavior is turning people off to basketball. That's the real injustice, John Feerick.