Jabbawockeez + Shaq = pure hilarity. NBA FanHouse's Brett Pollakoff detailed Shaq's exciting performance at the All-Star Game, which included one of the most memorable introductions ever (video after the jump).
Earlier this month, Tom Ziller hipped us to a possible Shaquille O'neal Twitter account. Eventually we found out that the Twitter account was fake, but that the real Shaq had decided to start his own account and join the Tweet party. After first hearing about Shaq's presence on Twitter, Bryant Blount decided to follow him. A few hours later, much to Blount's surprise, Shaq followed him back. Skeptical, Blount tweeted "shaq has requested to follow me...boy is he gonna be disappointed."Anyhow, check out Mashable.com for the rest of the details. But basically, Shaq ends up calling this fan. This is what sets Shaq apart from other sports stars. Shaq really knows how to interact with fans and be a regular dude.
A bit later, he added "still 30% skeptical about shaq tweeting...will continue to investigate and report back with any new findings." Low and behold, Shaq responded at 1am (the guy doesn't appear to sleep based on his tweets), "LORD B, DNT B SKEPTICAL, ITS ME GIMME A NUMBER I WILL CALL U."
So let me get this straight: the higher level of competition you enter, the more you'll be treated as toddler? First it was the Kings' Reggie Rules of Boredom, now, according to Chris Perkins' Inside the Heat blog, the Miami team is napping between their two-a-days practices:Many players already slept at the AAA between training camp practices. Others drove home. But drive time is wasted sleep time. So, O'Neal came up with this solution. And it turns out he's not the most neighborly guy on the team.
"I had to tell Shaq to shut up today because he was too loud on the phone," Wade said. "I'm like, 'Man, shut up.' But that's only for the beginning, when you come in. Everybody knows that time is ticking, and you're trying to get an hour in."
Even Pat Riley joined the napping fun times, where he overslept and had to be woken up by Shaq himself. Wouldn't you love to have Diesel as your personal alarm clock? I mean, you try to hit the snooze button and all you get is a 370 pound guy starring at you ... you'd get up pretty fast.
On the scale of "important Heat news", this little tidbit of Shaq wanting a divorce from Shaunie would probably register at a -3 on my books. But I've always thought big Diesel and Shaunie would be one of the few that stuck around, oh sigh. Ira Winderman of Sun-Sentinel reports:Heat center Shaquille O'Neal has filed for divorce in Miami-Dade Circuit Court from Shaunie, his wife of five years and a constant at his side during the three seasons he has spent in South Florida.Is it immature that the first thing I thought after reading that was "Served! Served! Served!" (Answer: yes.)
"She was served today," said Ira Elegant, O'Neal's Coral Gables-based attorney.
I've thrown this statistic out there before, but I'm sorry to say it's time to drag it out again. Since the 1999 season, Shaq and Tim Duncan have literally dominated the NBA. Their teams have accounted for seven of the eight championships over that time, and either Shaq or Duncan has been in each and everyone one of the NBA finals since then. It's almost like two of them get together before the start of the season and play rock paper scissors to decide which one is going to get the opportunity to play in the Finals. With Duncan and the Spurs once again in the Finals, the Shaq-Duncan era of dominance continues.
In my eyes, this brings up an even bigger debate. Based on the recent successes of the Phoenix Suns, tons of teams have taken up trying to build small ball up tempo teams. Although the Suns have been quite successful in the regular season, they have yet to translate their small ball formula into playoff glory.
So is the small ball era really here to stay? In my eyes, it seems like all these teams that are trying to do build deep offensive powerhouses might be making a mistake.
There are a few thoughts that have run through my mind since Kobe Bryant announced that he would like to be traded. The one that's really sticking with me is the thought that Kobe Bryant has become a public relations mastermind. I think the years of Kobe being butchered by the media has taught him how to manipulate the media in his favor.
Yesterday, Kobe went on a public relations rampage, trying to turn the tide in his favor. And from the current buzz around the internets, I think his ploy is actually working.
In one day, Kobe has demonized the entire Lakers organization. He worked his magic to paint the Lakers front office staff as lying, incompetent bunch (there's a very good possibility that they are indeed all of those things). He stated that the L.A. Times Article which quoted a Lakers insider as saying that he was the reason Shaq was traded is what set him off. But maybe, just maybe, that was the perfect opportunity for Kobe to get what he really wanted.
So what does Kobe want?
In my opinion, he just wants to play for a contending team. I think he only sees two ways to get that: Either by the Lakers hiring Jerry West (the only person he actually trusts to build a contending team right away) or via a trade to a contender (In my eyes, the Bulls are the only team he'll be willing to be dealt to. And I wouldn't be surprised if Kobe's agent, Rob Pelinka are already working together to make that happen).
And what should the Lakers do?
In my eyes there are only two steps available to the Lakers:
1) Call Kobe and his agent in for a meeting immediately. Scratch that, drive down to Kobe's Newport Beach home and meet with him immediately. See if there is anyway to rectify the situation. They didn't do that with Shaq, and they are still paying for it today. I'm sure the only way to convince Kobe to stay is through hiring Jerry West. If Dr. Buss wants to keep Kobe, he has no choice but to do that. I don't know what it would take to make it happen. But whatever it is, they need to do it NOW.
2) If after their meeting they conclude that there is no way to fix the rift, they need to find the best deal possible for Kobe. Don't worry about sending him to another conference. Just get the best damn deal you can get. The only problem is that Kobe has to be in agreement with wherever they decide to send him because of his no trade clause. Not a nice situation for the Lakers to be in.
One last thought: If Kobe is traded what happens to Phil Jackson end up? Because you know he's not going to want to coach this team without Kobe.
Previously at Fanhouse:
Kobe Bryant Demands Trade
Kobe Goes Off on the Laker Front Office
Kobe: Bring Back Jerry West or Trade Me
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
Kobe just went OFF on the Lakers front office on both L.A. Radio stations within the last few hours. Number 24 is upset about numerous things:
In the wake of last year's playoffs, there were thoughts that the league office's mechanisms for parity had finally started to kick in. From the salary cap and the luxury tax threshold, to changing the rules to benefit teams without a traditional center, to creating the draft lottery, the NBA has been making an effort to create parity. Last year, for the first time in a number of years a team outside of the usual Lakers, Spurs, Rockets, Pistons, Bulls group won the NBA title. As well, the Mavs and Suns, two teams without traditional centers, were two of the best teams in the league. 
In a recent L.A Times column, Utah Jazz guard, Derek Fisher asked out loud what many people have been wondering for the last three seasons. And that is: What would have happen if Shaq, Kobe and the rest of the Lakers did not implode in 2004? Here is what Fisher told J.A. Adande: "Professional sports, you know you're not going to stay together forever," Fisher said. "But it was so special what we were able to accomplish together as a group that a lot of times, even years removed, you still have to kind of stop and think like, 'Man, what if? What if we had two or three more years together? Could we have won another three or four championships?' "Despite his success in Utah, it's obvious that Fisher realizes the Lakers had something special. Too bad a person with an even head like Fisher wasn't able to sit Shaq, Kobe and the rest of the Lakers in a room and make sure that things didn't fall apart. When you see the Spurs (the Lakers chief rival during the Shaq/Kobe days) still competing for championships year in and year out, Laker fans can't help but wonder: "What if?"
"Sometimes it just seemed like things were too complicated," Fisher said. "Couldn't we just focus on being the best team we could be? "I wish it could [have been] different at times so we could just focus on trying to win a championship."
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