Phred,

If you can get the band back together we should record this!

JAMF in the blonde wig. EastCoast in the red.

LMAO!

Not mad at Shaq, more sad really. Shaq signed with the Cs because NO ONE else wanted him. In a year where the likes of Joe Johnson, Darko Milicic, and Travis Outlaw all got way overpaid, no one wanted Shaq which is why the Cs were willing to pick him up for peanuts.

And the reason that no one wanted him is because... Well, um, he's not that good any more. Not to mention he tends to screw up his own team's offenses all the time and was never exactly a great defender. It's a low risk pick-up for the Cs who now have a backup for Perkins, as long as both O'Neals can avoid the disabled list enough to add up to a full season combined (not a certainty).

But seriously Shaq, you need to RETIRE. You're way past your prime. Even Favre finally realized it's time to retire. (or has he???)

When Big does something like this, which turns off those fans who still loved him for his monster contributions to the franchise, it's hard for those fans, like me, to disagree with Skyhook.

This isn't a Shaw or Rick Fox defection, each of which occurred when neither franchise was a bona fide title contender.

This is akin to Kareem signing with the C's after the 1988 season. Galling. Shaq needs neither the money nor the 5th ring. He's doing this to spite LA or validate himself or both.

A little more insight into why my heart just doesn't see Shaq as a true Laker inside... now this is going to get a bit ...heavy... so bear with me.

The Lakers and their fans know victory and know defeat. No one has lost more Finals than the Lakers. Only one team has won more Finals than the Lakers. The 80's for me, come June, were a time of tremendous elation or crushing sadness. Of course, it's just a game, and the "sports highs and lows" would go away ultimately, but it was hard to not love an organization that was trying so hard... and was so clearly anguished by losing.

And that's the secret to being a real Laker fan I believe: losing hurts. Flash back to the 80's and watch Kareem, Magic, and the rest of Showtime in 1984. Or 1981. 1983. The devastation in their eyes at losing is clear, to the point they cried about it. Flash forward to the mid 1990's and even though the team was losing a lot, Van Exel stands out because he seemed to truly hate losing. Ceballos on the other hand...

Now move to the Kobe era - not Shaq era, but Kobe era. Who takes losses more seriously? Who uses defeat to work harder, play harder, just try try try again harder?

Shaq doesn't fit in that group of Lakers who took losses personally. After the Memorial Day Massacre, Kareem sat in the front of the room, and absorbed the visual and verbal punishment that Riley dished on him. And then he came back in Game 2 to rip the Celtics. On Johnson's junior, junior skyhook, watch who is jumping at the basket for a tip in just in case. Old Cap.

Shaq's not like Kareem, Magic, Van Exel, or Kobe. He's good at winning when he wants. But losing doesn't seem to push him, it doesn't bring out any more greatness in him.

And maybe that's what makes the Lakers different from all teams: when we lose, it makes us dig down, deep down, and come right back. And thank God, we win, again and again. It's a lesson that all real Lakers learn ultimately.

When I suggested that the Lakers sign Shaq for the minimum because he was the best big man still available I was shouted down and derisively dismissed.
I explained that part of my rationale was to keep him away from Miami, Boston, Dallas and San Antonio. (You know the old adage...the best defense is a good offense...hello Risk/Chess players) But the majority here absolutely, positively unequivocally did not want Shaq on the Lakers. Instead we opted for Theo, the defensive specialist that played 47 minutes in the Playoffs and grabbed 3reb and blocked zero shots.

Now our archrival has signed Shaq and people indignant. So let me get this straight. We didn't want him, but we didn't want him to go to Boston. Hmmm interesting.

Shaq makes Boston more formidable just like he would've made Miami, Dallas ...and yes the Lakers.

Okay now that I've got that off my chest, it'll make it even sweeter to beat Boston if they make it back to the finals. But I'll be rooting for Orlando. Miami and Boston are co-public enemies #1.

Though for those wondering about Shannon:
----------------------------------------------------------

http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/knicksblog/knicks_target_brown_likely_staying_kd2zx71UnixSAcR2NuZC8M

Knicks' target Brown likely staying with Lakers: agent

"Mark Bartelstein, Brown's agent, told The Post the Lakers guard is "leaning'' toward returning to the Lakers to go for a "three-peat.''

Brown is expected to make his final decision Thursday."
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Looks like again its the bench for the Machine

Posted by: KB Blitz | August 04, 2010 at 05:57 PM

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Thank you! Although I already had this news via a Retweet from Eric Pincus, kudos for posting something relevant after 2 threads and over 300 posts about The Big Irrelevant. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Shaq become relevant if, and ONLY if, we meet the Chowds in the NBA Finals next June AND he stays healthy?

I guess I'm in the miniority because it doesn't bother me one bit that Shaq's going to the Celtics. He was absolutely awesome when he was with the Lakers, he was the most dominant player in the game. That ended six years ago. He got traded. He played with Miami, Phoenix and Cleveland and now he's going to the Celtics. So what? He said he wanted to come back here and management wasn't interested. I'm glad, I think it's a closed book and we don't need him. That said, if we don't want him here then we have no right to deny him going ANYWHERE else. He's an athlete, he wants to play and he wants to play for a contender and have one last shot. And let's be clear, teams weren't lining up. So finally, the Celtics make an offer. And then Lakers fans start saying "Ohhh, he should turn it down." SERIOUSLY? Why, because it violates some kind of blogger code of honor? I'll probably catch all kinds of flack here but I really don't care. It just seems like a crock to me. I would never want to deny somebody the chance to do what they love. And make no mistake, Shaq isn't doing this because he needs the veteran's minimum or whatever they're paying him. He's doing it because he can't let go yet. Somehow the guy think's he's gonna be in the league until he's 40 and he's gonna push that 350 pound broken-down body around until he gets one more ring. And as far-fetched as it seems at this point, it's his right. It's not your's to deny him.

I've heard no good reason why his jersey shouldn't be retired. As a leader, the guy helped win 3 c'ships for this organization...of course he deserves to have his jersey retired. All this betrayal talk just makes me laugh.


Let's go Ls...all the way to a 3-peat!!!!!

That said, if we don't want him here then we have no right to deny him going ANYWHERE else. He's an athlete, he wants to play and he wants to play for a contender and have one last shot. And let's be clear, teams weren't lining up. So finally, the Celtics make an offer. And then Lakers fans start saying "Ohhh, he should turn it down." SERIOUSLY? Why, because it violates some kind of blogger code of honor?
Posted by: dave m | August 04, 2010 at 08:19 PM

I hope you have thick skin.

LRob,
Haha, yeah it's pretty thick. I don't often take issue with others here but every now and then I get real motivated.

To retire Shaq's jersey is to bring dishonor to those Laker Jerseys hanging on the rafter!!!

dave m- nah, I don't really object. He can sign with the Celtics, he can sign with the Heat, he can sign with the freakin Sioux Falls Skyforce. I am glad he didn't sign with us. I think Boston doesn't really expect to get anything out of him, people have been jabbering about 'locker room presence' as if the Celtics didn't have a core of veterans who went to the finals the last two years.

Shaq hurt the Cavs because they never knew what they were going to get from him. Boston will take anything they can get from him and adjust. If it helps them get back to the finals or even one round farther in the playoffs, great for them. But I have been saying it all summer;

well, you know.

Yo phred, I would object because Aretha would play my part better than I ever could.

Fish and Kobe in a pre-season game as rooks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0M0Hmy_78E&feature=related

63,
yeah, you get past a certain age and the live fast, die young thing doesn't seem quite as attractive. And then you get punch drunk and don't remembering being that young or fast.

shaq is a trojan horse working for us. albeit a fat one

I have an autographed Shaq Laker jersey that the Lakers Organization can use "when" they retire his jersey...unfortunately, it will be ashes in a glass jar...I used to like #34...not anymore...wow, playing for the Celtics is like giving all Laker fans, young & old, a Big Slap in the face.

absolutely NO WAY...to have his # 34 retire and to be with the GREAT LAKERS LEGENDS. let the water boys use his #34 instead. that would be GREAT.

LRob: I actually agreed with you. I even floated the idea of Shaq coming Baq and it would have been the best move for his legacy. I've been one of Shaq's most ardent defenders here. Laker fans have by and large been quick to forget that O'Neal was the horse the franchise rode back to prominence. Kobe was invaluable, but the Bling Dynasty was built on Big's back.

Fans here loved him for it. Until they didn't. I've asked those Laker fans hurling insults and heaping scorn one question: care to take those 3 banners out of the rafters?

But now Shaq has basically given those who hate him the ultimate justification to cast him out of the Big Room of Laker Greats. Sure, the Lakers didn't offer him a spot (and there's no guarantee he'd have taken it, either). But signing with a Celtics team that has a real chance of depriving LA of a threepeat and putting more distance between Boston and LA in the Banner Count kills any goodwill Shaq had left among Laker Fans as a whole. What Shaq did for the organization cannot be taken away, but what he's done can't be forgotten either.

Who cares about Shaq??? We should focus on Miami and we need Derron!!!

What are we going to call him now "The big Chowder" or "The big Leprechaun" or my favorite " The big Trader" we should let some other team retire his jersey, let Miami or the Celtics or Cleveland , god only knows they need to retire someone's jersey. What number is he going to wear, triple zero ? he has plenty of room on his jersey for it.
I guess the Celtics figure he only has to play half a year until Perkins comes back, and then they can keep him until the playoffs to battle Howard of the Magic and Z on Miami.
This just means we NEED a healthy Bynum this year at playoff time.

This just brings a whole new excitement to Celts- LA games. I love it and even you LA bums should be able to appreciate a thriving rivalry... oh by the way, when is Manny coming back from his vacation in Arizona? Ha ha, suckers!

Posted by: Laker Hater

You see we don't go on to the Celtic blogs, and we certainly wouldn't go by the blog name Celtic Hater, we prefer to focus on who we love and support, not who we hate, You Celtic fans and your team will always be second best when you attach a negative connotation on how you root for your team.

Hey, Shaq took the best job offered him, good for him.

Shaq has said a lot of stupid things since he left, things that make him look petty and small But Shaq is not a "traitor." There is no evil involved here.

1) Shaq was traded by the Lakers, he didn't leave voluntarily. The front office realized that the Shaq/Kobe thing had run its course. They struggled to work together in their best times. Now Shaq was beginning to decline, but still commanded a huge salary. The rest of the roster was retiring and aging. It was time to rebuild, hopefully around Kobe (a free agent), who was hitting his prime. So they TRADED him.

2) Shaq was never part of a Lakers/Celtics rivalry. Shaq was a Laker during Boston's long dark night of the soul. To Shaq, the Celtics were simply not even on the radar screen. He had no reason to hate them. They were just another game on an East Coast swing.

3) We are fans who love the Lakers and hate the Celtics. Shaq is a ballplayer - it is his job. It was strange to me to see guys like Duke Snider, Orel Hersheisher and Reggie Smith in SF Giant uniforms. But I didn't hate them for it. Come on, its fun to be a rabid fan, and I will root against Shag when the Lakers play the Cs, but I totally understand why he went there.

LAKER'S #1 ALL YOU CELTIC FAN COULD SUCK IT!!!KOBE THE BLACK MAMBA GOING TO DO IT AGAIN BACK 2 BACK 2 BACK HAHAHA... DON'T BE MAD ALL YOU LAKER HATERS ONE QUESTION WHO'S YOUR CHAMPS

KOBE... GASOL.... FISHER... BROWN... ARTEST.. BACK 2 BACK 2 BACK NOW...BEST ORGINIZED TEAM... ALL YOU LAKER HATERS WHOS YOUR CHAPS YOU MAD HAHAHA..

hes been washed up! LAKERS aint worried. hell brobably get hurt again and sit out the season like he always does. He just got himself a front row seat to the NBA championship.