Ok. I've tried and tried again. I've held on to the grudge for nearly five years. Shaquille O'Neal left my beloved Lakers in a horrible fashion. His jerseys were thrown into a corner in my closet awaiting my first bonfire. No one in my household was allowed to call him Shaq for nicknames are reserved for friends and family and he was no longer either. His commercials caused an abrupt channel change on my remote. Nothing Shaquille O'Neal related was tolerated in the Xpinionated household.
Alas, Shaq has worn me down. No worries, I'm still a Lakers fan and will still call him all sorts of vulgarities should he attack the purple and gold family. But as it stands, his last tirade against Stan Van Gundy, of all people, has won me over for now.
I think it started with his formal apology to Kobe indirectly. This occurred a while back when he finally acknowledged publicly that Kobe had nothing to do with the O'Neal trade admitting it was an executive decision. Oddly enough, the media whose sources regarding Kobe's involvement in the O'Neal trade were never verified or substantiated have finally stopped including Kobe as a sidenote to O'Neals trade.
Next was Shaq's slowing down of the Suns offense. I was pleased to see them slow down though they have since picked it back up. Add to that the dismantling of a their title contending team and you can see how the grudge could start losing momentum.
Then the all-star game. The Jabberwockies. Shaq and Kobe's playful one on one. The maturity level showed by both.
Lastly, I read about the war of words between O'Neal and Van Gundy. This is just funny stuff. Van Gundy sends a three sentence appetizer to Shaq. Retorting Shaq gobbles the coach, his brother, his star player, Patrick Ewing, and generally anything loosely associated with Stan Van Gundy in a 537 word (minus the expletives) monologue that rivals anything the WWE/WWF has ever produced.
For all my grudges, loyalties, and misgivings I have to admit the guy is classic. In his words: "It's what I do. I've been doing this since 1992. If you don't believe it, Google me."
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