O'Neal Is Not Center of Suns' Orbit

Ex-MVP Takes On Supporting Role in Phoenix

BOSTON -- Shaquille O'Neal is coming to grips with his basketball mortality. To prolong his career with the Phoenix Suns, the once-dominant force has had to become a mere "earthling" who can't simply show up and destroy all in his path. That much was evident as the 7-foot-1 O'Neal prepared in the visitors' locker room for a game against the Celtics on Wednesday.

O'Neal pushed his body -- most importantly, that balky right hip and knee that had many believing he was finished in Miami. He hunched down and moved side-to-side with an elastic band around his ankles. He moved up and down with a large exercise ball that was pressed against a wall. And laying face-down on a table, he grimaced and grunted as Suns head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson twisted and stretched his lower limbs.

The former most valuable player's pregame routine also included encouraging the player he hopes can carry him to another NBA title. O'Neal clapped his hands while shouting to all-star forward Amare Stoudemire: "C'mon let's put up some shots. I need you to go 21 for 25 tonight. The only time you can miss is if somebody fouls you."

Stoudemire laced up his sneakers and began to laugh. O'Neal knows that with Stoudemire and former two-time MVP Steve Nash, the Suns don't revolve around him.

"I'm not really worried about my numbers now as a 36-year-old," O'Neal said. "I'm not trying to be the first, experimental case of a 36-year-older trying to maintain his numbers, especially when I'm on a team like this. Can I do the same stuff I could do when I was Amare's age? Of course not. I'm not going to even try. However, I feel that I'm the baddest 36-year-old out there."

In his final days in Miami, O'Neal was simply considered just plain bad. He didn't make the all-star team for the first time in 15 years, was posting career lows in almost every statistical category, and a nagging hip injury kept him sidelined for much of a miserable campaign that threatened to end his string of consecutive postseason appearances at 14.

The Suns rescued O'Neal on Feb. 6 in one of the more astonishing trades in NBA history. They surrendered their best perimeter defender, Shawn Marion, with the hopes that the aging O'Neal could team up with their training staff to provide the rebounding and defensive presence the team has lacked in its last three playoff exits.

The trade won't truly prove its worth until the postseason, but the Suns feel confident despite some uncomfortable moments initially after the trade. Phoenix stumbled to a 3-6 start with O'Neal in the lineup but went 8-2 over the next 10 games, with wins over San Antonio, Houston and Golden State. After Friday night's win over Philadelphia, the Suns are 14-10 overall since the trade.

"We were banking on we knew what we were doing, that this will come around, this will be fine. But listen, it doesn't keep you from pulling your hair out, going crazy and worrying about it," Suns Coach Mike D'Antoni said of the 3-6 start with O'Neal. "It's too bad we had to give those games up, take a step backward to take two steps forward. That's what we did.

"I thought we could get better with Shaq, whether it would be immediate, two games, 10 games, two months or a year. No one knew," D'Antoni said. "But we do know, we'll be a better team with Shaq, more equipped for the playoffs. It may cost us a seeding this year, but we still feel like we can win on any court at any time. And that's what the ultimate goal was."

In their first 18 games with O'Neal, the Suns (48-24) had a better rebounding differential and scored more points per game than they did before his arrival. The 6-10 Stoudemire has benefited the most from O'Neal's arrival, scoring at least 20 points in all but one game with him and attempting almost three more free throw attempts per game after moving to his more natural power forward position.

"The team's evolved a little bit, but I think the philosophy is still the same -- we're still trying to score within the first 10 seconds," D'Antoni said. "I think what he's given us is a belief that no matter what we run into, we're equipped to deal with it."

O'Neal is playing slightly more minutes, rebounding better, shooting a better percentage and looking much more mobile than he did in Miami. He credits being surrounding by more talented teammates and working with a new training staff. "This is a digital, new-age medical staff," O'Neal said. "I'm used to old guys, with their old ways. Ice and [electronic stimulation], that just wasn't working for me. If you deal with an old guy and his way isn't working and he tries something on you and you say it don't work, they look at you like: 'No. My [expletive] works. You're faking. You're getting a divorce. Your numbers are going down. You're worried about your legacy. You're faking. You just don't want to play.' "

O'Neal was upset and believed that the Heat hadn't properly diagnosed the problem in his right hip. Heat President and Coach Pat Riley said O'Neal's complaints about the organization and its medical staff were "sad." When told of Riley's comments, O'Neal fired back: "I really don't give a [expletive] what Riley is disappointed in. Sue me."

Riley and Suns General Manager Steve Kerr have since called a truce to the war of words. While O'Neal is still bitter about how things ended in Miami, he understands why he is with his fourth team in 16 seasons. "I'm sort of like a specialist. I go in, do what I got to do and after four years, they get tired of me and I have to relocate myself," said O'Neal, who has won four NBA titles and taken his previous teams in Orlando, Los Angeles and Miami to the NBA Finals. "I grew up like that, with my father being in the military. It's nothing new to me.

"I'm having a great time. I'm in the best shape of my life. I'm with a great organization," he said. "I feel like I have an opportunity to be a on a damn good team my last 730 days that I'm going to be playing. We have all the tools to get it done. I've won with far less than this."