Under The Bigtop With Shaq
by Jeff Clark on Aug 6, 2010 8:59 PM EDT
in Boston Celtics Articles
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PrintI've held off "reporting" the various extracurricular activities and tidal wave of attention that Shaq gets up to this point because, well, it all seems very silly. If you thought Starbury was a traveling circus show, wait till we get a few months of the Shaq show. The first few days have been a whirlwind of sorts. Consider the following non-news-but-somehow-news items.
- As always, Shaq needs a new nickname
- Henry Abbott vs. Tom Ziller have a bet over who will be better, Shaq or Darko (really)
- Shaq warns that Jim Rome could get "Greg Ostertag'd" (I admit, I laughed at that)
- Tune in Tuesday night for Shaq Vs. on ABC (I wish that was a paid endorsement)
- How Shaq and "Adolescent Ron Howard" sealed the deal (Doc Funk)
Of course, all of this is simply sideshow. All that matters is what happens on the court. But what happens if the sideshow becomes a distraction? We openly wonder what the distraction of Delonte's baggage could do to the team. But in some respects, couldn't Shaq be more of one?
O'Neal absolutely, positively, needs the spotlight. He craves it, he feeds off of it, he simply can't get enough of it. Hey, it works for him. He's a funny guy and for the most part likable and perhaps most importantly (for him) he's extremely marketable. Don't pity him for taking a paycut to play in Boston, he's pocketed over $290M in salary over his career and made $15M in endorsements last year alone.
So how will a guy like that manage to "just fit in" to the Celtics Ubuntu attitude about "we not me?" He talked a good game about winning a "ring for the King" last year but there were rumblings that all was not rosey at the end. In fact, he's burned bridges at just about every stop he's been at. Why do we think Boston will be immune?
Already there are questions about exactly what role Shaq expects to play on the Celtics. Everyone assumed that he was happy to take a backup role to Perkins and the other O'Neal. Not so fast (allegedly).
Atlanta Hawks: No Shaq . . . now what? | Atlanta Hawks
I’ve been told that Atlanta wouldn’t budge on giving Shaq a starting nod over Al, who is after all still only 24-years old and an All-Star. Shaq believes he will get the starting nod over Jermaine O’Neal in Boston as Kendrick Perkins rehabs from his knee injury.
That might be news to Jermaine. Taking it one step further, Chris Forsberg has been openly wondering why Shaq left Perkins out of his introductory comments and why Perkins thus far hasn't commented on the Big Insurance Policy yet.
Is this making something out of nothing. Most likely yes. But that's what you get with the attention that Shaq draws to himself and that's my whole point. This stuff is going to pop up all year long. And when the chapter is closed on the Shaq era, we'll all have to wince and hope that the bridge he burns here isn't quite so bad as his former stomping grounds.
Of course, winning solves everything. If the team is winning, it will be all Shrek and Donkey and Shaq-fu and smiles and good times all day long. I'm just hoping it will be Ubuntu and brotherhood and "us against the world" when things inevitably get bumpy.
(note: that was a lot of linking - if you missed any of the above, please go back and look at them all so my effort won't have been in vein ...or is it vain?)
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Jeff,
it’s a tidal wave, not a “title wave”. Good post as usual otherwise.
gracias
I love my legion of editors – keep on keeping me in check
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V
No, this is the Celtics. It's a title wave.
That’s what sweeping Shaq into Boston.
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by itkonlyyou224 on Aug 9, 2010 9:23 PM EDT up reply actions
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Ostertag'd?
Can anyone explained the Ostertag’d comment? I know the beef with him and Rome but I’m not sure what the deal is with him mentioning Greg Ostertag.
Ostertag made some crack about playing on in the playoffs...
…while Shaq was home for the summer.
The next preseason, Shaq walked up to him and gave him an open handed smack/punch that knocked him off his feet.
…allegedly
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V
Ah, Thanks!
Thanks for the info Jeff. I’ve been a fan of the Celtics all my life but during the dark years I sort of tuned out of basketball. If that story rings true that would have been hilarious to see.
That was a funny
Rilvilary back in the lat 90’s . The Jazz took care of the Lakers in the second round in 97,and then in the West fianls in 98. I loved watching that jazz team
I am not sold on the move
And don’t get me wrong you can’t do better than the minimum. But I wasn’t scared as many were when the cavs got him, and there is a reason for that.
by Warrior Spirit on Aug 6, 2010 9:30 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
As a BACKUP for the vet min you can’t do much better, and he should be able to crush most opposing benches, but…
by Warrior Spirit on Aug 6, 2010 9:34 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Who HATES being in the spotlight – KG. Who loves the spotlight – Shaq. Shaq becomes the perfect foil for the humble ubuntu old men on the team. Shaq will grab the spotlight and let these guys off the hook.
What is going to be interesting is whatching how Shaq deals with The Truth. Is there respect there?
So many stories, such a long summer. Let’s get it all out of our systems before the season so we can be pondering the innermost workings of “the Rotation” and W/L’s in the (pre)season.
Shaq and the Truth
Interesting you should ask. From Paul’s bio on wikipedia:
His nickname, The Truth, was accorded him by Shaquille O’Neal. After a Lakers’ victory over the Celtics in 2001, O’Neal pulled a Boston reporter over and gestured toward his notepad. “Take this down”, said O’Neal. “My name is Shaquille O’Neal and Paul Pierce is the [expletive] truth. Quote me on that and don’t take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn’t know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is the truth.”
After Danny just signed Shaq, Pierce tweeted a pretty positive comment.
So I would say that the respect is probably there.
I tend to agree
For the most part KG, Pierce and Ray don’t crave the spotlight, but probably like it when they earn it. They tend to handle in very polished fashion at this point in their careers. I don’t see this as a problem, but this move comes with some chemistry risks. Shaq has never come into a situation like the Celts with so many respected established veterans and three other Hall of Famers.
The media always gets carried away and loves to raise controversial topics, but we should be very confident that Danny and Doc will be communicating well and clarifying roles. I’m sure that Danny had to get confidence that Shaq would accept a backup bench role and the team ethic with the Celts before going ahead with the deal. ESPN, The Globe, The Herald and the rest of the media world will toss around all kinds of considerations and the preseason hype will be way up there, but this team should not be affected by it.
by SteveZ from Edgemont on Aug 6, 2010 10:55 PM EDT up reply actions
"pocketed over $200M" Sorry Jeff
one more item to correct:
Shaq has made over $290M in his career – that’s far enough over $200 that probably warrants an edit.
And yeah – most of that stuff sounds exactly like “making something out of nothing”.
thanks
I was looking for that link but ran out of steam
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V
the player pages at
http://www.basketball-reference.com
put all their salary history down at the very bottom of the page.
$290M doesn`t even scratch the surface!
Shaq made $15M last season in endorsements alone.
Over his career, you can roughly double that $290M salary figure when endorsements are factored in!
This site is better
I started out with espn & found Celticshub through them & went on to find the Boston Globe site trying to get my Celtic fix. I thought those sites were good enough until I was looking for more news about the Shaq signing like what were Celtic players saying, what was the reaction around the league, what was Shaq saying etc
Celticshub has been great in the past for info., but there seems to be some serious angst going on over there against Shaq. There was a huge lack of info. I mean there was more info from a few posters than the actual guys who run the site. Really strange. I went to the Globe, & they had a good story, but I kept thinking there should be more. Thank God I found this site. It’s great! Lots & lots of info. & links. This site looks like the holy grail of Celtic info., am I right? Looks like I’ll just come here from now on. Thank You Celticsblog!!!
Thanks Jeff
You’re welcome. You deserve props for this site. I’m putting it in my bookmarks above the hub. Saint Crispen’s Day……. For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother
hey, I like this guy
a Bard fan and a Boston fan, killer combo
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V
i'm not sure shaq was the issue in cleveland
lebron was very unprofessional in the series against us this year. even for a guy i hate, this was kind of shocking. his arrogance at the postgame podium, his openly questioning his coach and his teammates…you just don’t do that. found this tidbit interesting…
“recent rumblings have now surfaced that O’Neal had to be restrained at one point – though I am unsure as to how many individuals it would take to do so – from physically confronting James in the Cavaliers locker room after a playoff loss.” (from one of the links in the post, http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/?p=32005)
If this is true, my respect for him just went up a notch
by Warrior Spirit on Aug 7, 2010 7:05 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
A Nickname for Shaq
Since he gave Paul his nickname, how about “The Truth-teller”?
"They don't buy all those banners at Woolworths."
-- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, on all the championship banners at Boston Garden
whomever combined Shaq's name with Red's name (I read that somewhere) in trying to come up with a nickname
THAT IS BLASPHEMOUS
Is it Soup Yet?
And if this is a Circus analogy (Under the Big Top)
He is basically one of the big lumbering elephants who comes into the center ring, walks around in circles a few times, raises up and bellows, some midget stands on his back (Nate) and then lumbers back out……hopefully he raises up a few times at the right moment and we can get back the real circus….The Lebron Brothers Clowns ……against the Juggler (Rondo) and the hire wire act by Jesus Shuttlesworth, the Lion Tamer (KG) and the Master of Ceremonies – Paul Pierce.
Delonte is at the circus too…..he brought Ms James…..she loves the Circus…especially the clowns.
Is it Soup Yet?
fun, Master Po
till that last line. perhaps we could stick with basketball here and not drift into ‘tabloid’ country?
by colormegreen on Aug 7, 2010 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions
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