Lakers C SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, citing frustration with
"what he says is a lack of respect from the NBA's front
office," will not play in the 2000 Sydney Games, according
to Jackie MacMullan of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. O'Neal: "I
probably shouldn't say this, but I'm not going. The NBA
doesn't give me any respect. They say all the right things,
but I won't believe them until they show me the same respect
they show KARL MALONE and CHARLES BARKLEY." More O'Neal:
"If they think they're going to stop me from voicing my
opinion by fining me, they're mistaken." NBA Deputy
Commissioner RUSS GRANIK: "The last time I talked to Shaq
about the Olympics was a year ago, and he indicated he was
anxious to play. If he has changed his mind about playing,
I can only hope he'll change his mind again before next
summer." O'Neal, on Knicks C PATRICK EWING: "He's somebody
I really don't like, especially since the lockout. Let me
tell you this: Patrick and his Georgetown boys messed up the
lockout. Georgetown is supposed to be a five-star
university? Yeah, right. That's why he and 'Zo [ALONZO
MOURNING] were trying to play lawyer, trying to intimidate
billionaires like [Blazers Owner] PAUL ALLEN. Please." On
his image: "So I like rap, and I do some movies. What does
that mean? I'm not trying to be anything I'm not. I don't
have a huge vocabulary. I barely passed the SATs. But I
set my own kind of good example, because I have siblings,
and I have a two-year-old daughter, and I'm not going to let
them down" (SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, 3/29 issue).
