Pity the poor Nets.
As if Shaquille O’Neal needs any extra motivation, he has plenty this week. More than anything, Shaq wants to wrap up his third straight NBA championship in the shadow of his hometown, Newark.
Before the series began, Shaq said he wanted what teammate Kobe Bryant got last June – clinching the crown in his hometown, as Bryant did in Philadelphia.
North on the Jersey Turnpike, Shaq’s got a great chance to be spraying champagne in the state where he was raised.
Leading 2-0, the Lakers need to win two of the three consecutive games at the Meadowlands for their “Three-Peat.” Shaq enters Game 3 tonight averaging 38 points in the first two Lakers’ victories, averaging 34.2 points on 58.1 percent shooting in 17 career Finals’ games. That’s second on the all-time list after Rick Barry (36.3 ppg).
“We know the Nets are going to come with a lot of energy, but we also know that that’s Shaq’s hometown, so he’s going to want to play big in front of his family,” Lakers’ sage Brian Shaw said.
Shaq lived in several Jersey locales – Newark, Jersey City, Eatontown and Bayonne – before his family moved to Germany after he finished fifth grade; Shaq’s father, Philip Harrison was in the military.
Though Shaq went to high school in San Antonio, he considers Jersey his roots and still has many relatives in the area, including his biological father, Joseph Toney, whom Shaq reportedly has never spoken to. Toney has made repeated attempts to reconcile, despite Shaq writing a song “My Biological didn’t Bother” that included the stinging lyrics “Phil’s my father, my biological didn’t bother.”
The Lakers are holed up in Manhattan, but Shaq will cross the Hudson to visit his great-grandmother and grandfather. His grandmother, Odessa, recently passed away.
“I have so much family there I probably won’t even see them,” Shaq said. “They realize that. They know not to call me. They know who to call for tickets. I’m sure they’re New Jersey fans and I’m sure I’ll get booed but I’ve been on a mission and I want to take care of business.”
Taking care of business is a massive understatement, considering how he’s beaten up Nets centers Todd MacCulloch, Aaron Williams and Jason Collins. The funniest scene of the Finals was Williams, buying a pump-fake, landing on top of Shaq’s back, holding on as if he were Michael Strahan going for a sack. If the 7-foot, 360-pounder rolls to a sweep, he can lay claim to being the greatest center of all time, no matter what Bill Walton says.
“He’ll shoot 50 percent on an off night,” Kobe Bryant said. “He’s just going to demoralize the team.”
Friday, Shaq was peeved at Sacramento coach Rick Adelman for continuing his whine over Shaq’s special treatment, even reviving the theory Shaq steps over the free-throw line. Shaq used it as motivation, dedicated the game to Adelman and hit a stunning 12 of 14 free throws in Friday’s win.
Late in the Kings series, Shaq promised Phil Jackson he was going to pound opponents instead of finessing them.
“There was a point Shaquille felt he tried to be cute and stayed away from his game,” Jackson said. “He started taking fall-away jump shots and using it effectively. But he felt that he got a little too cute and wasn’t aggressive enough at times, because he was afraid of the offensive foul and being put in jeopardy.
“He came back and said, ‘I just have to play my game.’ That’s been his mantra: ‘I just have to play my game.’ “
