Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal, nicknamed Shaq, is an American retired professional basketball player who is currently an analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Listed at 7 ft 1 intall and weighing 325 pounds, he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA. O'Neal played for six teams throughout his 19-year NBA career...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth6 March 1972
CityNewark, NJ
CountryUnited States of America
Being that I'm a tropical black man I don't get to see much snow. When I see snow I go crazy. That's why they call me Sasquatch. There's no Sasquatch found in the snow so I had to go back to my Sasquatchian roots.
When I was young I was on punishment a lot and I used to watch a lot of TV, and I asked myself a question: 'How come people like Mike? How come they like Magic? How come they like Bird? How come they don't like the big guys?' So I just throw a little bit of what they were doing. You smile, you act crazy and silly. And I think people like me because I'm different. I've always been a class clown type of guy. It comes natural.
We just need to develop some type of consistency.
It was very frustrating. However, I knew when I saw (official) Bob Delaney out there it would be trouble. You just can't make the mistakes that we did and win in this building.
My comments were made out of frustration in the heat of the moment. But I realize that my choice of words was inappropriate and again, I would like to apologize.
I think he's the true definition of a great player and you guys should recognize that. I think the recognition of a great player has been lost the last 10, 15 years.
We have a new leader, and we just have to go out and get the job done.
I would say Detroit, Indiana, Cleveland, Jersey, darn near every good, solid team in the East. The Lakers, I think it's more of a TV-rating rivalry than a real rivalry. If we could both make it to the Finals a couple of years in a row, then it could be a real rivalry.
I got into foul trouble early and never got into the flow of the game. The foul trouble is very frustrating, and I knew when I saw (referee) Bob Delaney I was going to be in trouble anyway. We did still have chances to win the game; we just made mistakes you can't make in this building.
I was running the court very well, getting the ball and making the aggressive move. I'm still missing two or three jump hooks that I don't usually miss. I'll get it back.
I felt pretty good. I just wanted to get my guys going -- bring some energy and spirit to the lineup.
I feel we made too many mistakes, especially down the stretch. We gave too many of their shooters open looks.
When we keep fighting, we're a hard team to beat. Now we just have to take that and bottle it up.
We wanted to power the ball inside. We did that and the whole team played good tonight. We played good defense. The team is playing pretty well right now.