Revisiting the Soap Opera
I was blogging a long post about Katelyn Kristine Faber (now you can understand my meaningless post from a few days back). It was a long blog, primarily consisting of the words "Katelyn Faber" repeated over and over again. Google apparently "lost" the post. If it wasn't for the incompetence of business, I'd be really paranoid right now. [UPDATE: Looks like it DID post. Enjoy.]
Meanwhile, Kobe's other love is on the bench, but energized:
The Shaquille O'Neal who left the Lakers looked like a Sequoia, but this is a different Shaq, remodeled, reinvigorated and, despite what he says, really mad....
At 32, he looks quicker and lighter on his feet than he has in years. He might never be the force he once was but one thing is sure: You'll never see a better Shaq than the one in the Miami Heat's red, black and white this season.
"He's participated in everything and I love that," says Eddie Jones, also his teammate with the Lakers.
"I think he's motivated. I mean, for a guy to drop all that weight over the summer, he's got to be motivated. You don't just wake up every morning and say, 'You know what? I feel like losing 25 pounds.' "
Actually, that's what O'Neal often tried to do with the Lakers, playing himself into shape over the season while working things out with Kobe Bryant — usually in the headlines — before their annual comeback in the spring.
That ended when the Lakers shocked the NBA by trading O'Neal. Owner Jerry Buss said it was just business, with Shaq fixed on an extension, that would have meant a commitment of close to $150 million, taking O'Neal through age 36 or 37.
O'Neal says he knows it was just business. Actually, he thinks that Bryant sent him away and that Buss forgot everything O'Neal did for him, and intends to make them sorry until he's taking his grandchildren for rides on his Jet Ski.
Bryant denies playing any role, but there's never an end to their issues. Now, however, each is on his own and if one day both may regret it, that time is not now. Kobe's in Los Angeles, rebuilding. Shaq's here, on an Eastern Conference power, with another glamorous city at his feet....
O'Neal can actually be humble, although not for long, and he's never subservient. Even with Jerry West there, when the Lakers did something O'Neal wanted — like signing Dennis Rodman — Shaq would joke that he was the GM. As for Mitch Kupchak, O'Neal seemed to think he was one of the clubhouse attendants.
O'Neal and Phil Jackson parted as allies, but they had their moments, or months, too, as when Jackson noted O'Neal's lack of effort in the 2002 playoffs, culminated by their argument in a game at San Antonio when Brian Shaw stepped between them.
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