‘Best team’ wasn’t the Lakers, according to Shaq

October 9th, 2009, 7:56 am · 10 Comments · posted by JANIS CARR, OCREGISTER.COM

Shaquille O’Neal isn’t stupid. He knows who is paying his salary. That, or he has short-term memory loss. How else do you explain him saying Thursday that the Cavaliers are “the best team I’ve ever played on. On paper, anyway.”

Has Shaq forgotten the 1999-2000 NBA champion Lakers team? Write down the names of Kobe Bryant, Glen Rice, Robert Horry, Ron Harper, A.C. Green and Derek Fisher and that team looks pretty impressive. Or how about the 2003-04 Lakers who finished 56-26 with Bryant, Karl Malone and Gary Payton?

“I’ve always begged management to get me the power forward I’ve needed and the shooters I’ve needed. Here you’ve got a guy that’s been starting 10 or 11 years [Zydrunas Ilgauskas] that’s backing me up, you’ve got (Anderson) Varejao who’s one of the top forwards in the league and you’ve got D-Block (Darnell Jackson) coming off the bench. We have a lot of great shooters, so on paper, I’d say yes.”

Cleveland Coach Mike Brown smiled and said, “When the big fella talks, you’ve got to listen. If he says that, it’s something that has to be heard.”

Which ever way the wind blows when Shaq is around surely leads to a lot of hot air.

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deezy76 says:

October 9, 2009 at 8:37 am

That last line just about sums it all up.

File this one under “stupid Shaq quotes”.

cs says:

October 9, 2009 at 8:47 am

that’s about as credible as obama receiving the nobel peace prize…

oops, sorry, this isn’t a political blog!

thechampishere says:

October 9, 2009 at 4:31 pm

Don’t be a hater all your life.

It’s never too late to change!

7r@cy says:

October 9, 2009 at 9:05 am

And the next team he goes to, will be the best as well. Shaq says the same thing everywhere he goes. Just keep your mouth shut and play.

Bummi says:

October 9, 2009 at 9:08 am

Just win BABY! Paper doesn’t matter. Lakers had the best team on paper back in 2004 (Mailman, GP, Kobe, Shaq, etc.) Did they win? Nope! Shaq needs to be quiet. If Cavs don’t win and they won’t (LAKERS will), let’s see what Shaq will say then. I don’t think they will get out of the East with Boston, Orlando, Detroit, and Atlanta. Oh I forgot: Shaq says its the best team on paper he has played on. That doesn’t mean he think they are going to win. My bad.