Shaquille O'Neal a Hypocrite? You Make the Call

It seems beyond me to justify or criticize Shaquille O’Neal’s dissing of Kobe Bryant on his latest venture into the world of rap. Nor can I justify or criticize Shaq’s losing his deputy badge over it.

As to the first aspect—the dissing, I think it was done all in fun. As to the second aspect—Shaq losing his badge, I guess the sheriff didn’t get the joke.

What I will comment on is the Shaq and Kobe feud. What feud? It seems to me that there is a feuder in Shaq. But no feudee.

It certainly seems from Kobe’s response that it is all water under the bridge to him. The only thing he has spoken about recently is next season and his teammates.

No word from the MVP at all about ex-teammates.

Whatever happened between the two, it appears that it was too much for Shaq to get over. But that’s fine. A lot of people have a hard time getting over things.

If any of you have gone through a less-than-amiable divorce, you know what I am talking about.

What I would, however, like you basketball fans and sports fans in general to comment on is this.

Here is Shaq after Kobe won the NBA MVP and just prior to the NBA Finals. "He's been great all year. He was great in the playoffs and he's showing everyone what he's made of. He's on the verge of being the latest great one with four rings. He's come a long way. All I can say is, I'm happy for him. And I'm proud of him."

Those are Shaq's words. And they are quite different from: "You can’t win a championship without me" and "How does my _____ taste?"

So, is this a case of the leopard changing his spots? What do you think? What if the Lakers had won the title? It is my feeling we would have heard an altogether different quote from Shaq, one that was very conciliatory rather than derisive.

The truth is Kobe could have won the championship with a lot of people not just Shaq. Kevin Garnett, for example, or Dwight Howard or Amare Stoudemire or Dirk Nowitzki to name a few.

But with Dwayne Wade not totally healthy for the past two years, Shaq-fu couldn’t win the championship or even get close without him. So, where does that leave Shaq’s legacy with Miami?

Not too memorable, I’m sure. To go from the top spot to the absolute bottom in two years, you must admit, is pretty pathetic.

At least, when Shaq left the Lakers, they were Western Conference Champions, right where they are now without him. So, I hate to see Shaq lose favor with the many fans and sportswriters in this town who still respect him and appreciate what he and Kobe did together during that memorable three-peat.

What do you think?