Hell Hath No Fury Like A Fat Man Scorned
Every time Shaquille O'Neal leaves a franchise - be it his decision or otherwise - he is always sure to piss on the siblings of whoever he feels like, once his overweight ass is finally squeezed out of the door. It's an act that used to be amusing and/or coute, but the cuteness dried up long ago.
This season is no exception - after leaving Miami, who gave him $100 million for 50 games of work, O'Neal decided to try and make the circumstances of his departure acrimonious, even though they weren't.
Boston Globe
Shaq must get some kind of pleasure out of throwing whomever he chooses under the bus for the purposes of getting a good quote to give to the press, because he does it a lot despite it having no practical purpose. In this instance, though, his quote is wildly hypocritical.
Little about Shaq is professional. He tries hard when he feels like it, and at no other times, times which are becoming increasingly few and far between. Shaq has also never tried to control his weight in the offseason, leaving himself having to play his way into shape during training camp, preseason and the early regualr season, which leads to the inevitable injuries that leave him having to sit out half of the season. (Oh no! How bad that must be for him!)
Annoyingly, he's been able to get away with it historically, due to his being so much better than everybody else. But this no longer applies. These days, Shaq isn't that good, and even though his confidence is unwavering (someone should ask him if he still makes free throws when it counts after his 33% shooting from the line in last season's first round sweep by Chicago), his skills are not. And so now, you're left with a player whose play is far beneath what it was, but whose persona refused to adapt.
Chris Quinn and Ricky Davis are not very good NBA players, but they play hard every night, even if they don't play very well. There's a whole lot more to being a "professional" than just being very good - as with any job, that tag brings with it an agreement to try hard as much as is reasonably possible, to shut your face, and to not cause trouble. O'Neal does not adhere to these things - consistently, he talks up new teammates to make them happy, to ease in his arrival, and to get the media and the public talking. Then when he leaves, he is sure to demean his former teammates while touting his new ones, just so that some of the blame for previous failures can be deflected away from him. Oh, and also to get his laugh.
Maybe his news Suns teammates can umpart some of their professionalism on him, before he knifes them in the back too. We;re now just awaiting the Championship guarantee.
This season is no exception - after leaving Miami, who gave him $100 million for 50 games of work, O'Neal decided to try and make the circumstances of his departure acrimonious, even though they weren't.
"[In Phoenix] I love playing for this coach and I love playing with these guys," said O'Neal yesterday. "We have professionals who know what to do. No one is asking me to play with Chris Quinn or Ricky Davis. I'm actually on a team again."
Boston Globe
Shaq must get some kind of pleasure out of throwing whomever he chooses under the bus for the purposes of getting a good quote to give to the press, because he does it a lot despite it having no practical purpose. In this instance, though, his quote is wildly hypocritical.
Little about Shaq is professional. He tries hard when he feels like it, and at no other times, times which are becoming increasingly few and far between. Shaq has also never tried to control his weight in the offseason, leaving himself having to play his way into shape during training camp, preseason and the early regualr season, which leads to the inevitable injuries that leave him having to sit out half of the season. (Oh no! How bad that must be for him!)
Annoyingly, he's been able to get away with it historically, due to his being so much better than everybody else. But this no longer applies. These days, Shaq isn't that good, and even though his confidence is unwavering (someone should ask him if he still makes free throws when it counts after his 33% shooting from the line in last season's first round sweep by Chicago), his skills are not. And so now, you're left with a player whose play is far beneath what it was, but whose persona refused to adapt.
Chris Quinn and Ricky Davis are not very good NBA players, but they play hard every night, even if they don't play very well. There's a whole lot more to being a "professional" than just being very good - as with any job, that tag brings with it an agreement to try hard as much as is reasonably possible, to shut your face, and to not cause trouble. O'Neal does not adhere to these things - consistently, he talks up new teammates to make them happy, to ease in his arrival, and to get the media and the public talking. Then when he leaves, he is sure to demean his former teammates while touting his new ones, just so that some of the blame for previous failures can be deflected away from him. Oh, and also to get his laugh.
Maybe his news Suns teammates can umpart some of their professionalism on him, before he knifes them in the back too. We;re now just awaiting the Championship guarantee.
Labels: Chris Quinn, Heat, Ricky Davis, Shaquille O'Neal, Suns, Things That Annoy Me
posted by Sham at
4:31 AM
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