Shaq excused from Athens?

NEW YORK CITY — Despite the infectious flag-waving in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal is playing it cool. The Big Aristotle isn’t ready to jump into the bandwagon even as stars like Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd, Ray Allen, and Tracy McGrady are pledging allegiance to play for the US team in next year’s qualifying tournament for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

O’Neal, 30, has played on two US squads so far. He powered the Stars and Stripes to the world title in 1994 and the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Shaq was invited to play in Indianapolis last September but declined the offer to undergo toe surgery–a legitimate excuse.

There’s no doubt that O’Neal is the world’s most dominant player today. If he had played in Indianapolis, the US wouldn’t have been embarrassed for sure. Not that O’Neal would’ve guaranteed the championship for the US. He would’ve at least taken the US to the semifinals.

But Shaq has his priorities, reasonable or not. And it appears that he’ll be excused from playing if he decides to beg off.

"Shaq’s done his share," said NBA vice president for international media relations Terry Lyons. "It’s time to move on. He’s played on two national teams. If he decides to play, fine. If he decides not to play, we should respect his decision."

The problem is Shaq is willing to play only under his terms. The word is he’s 75 percent sure to suit up for the national team on condition Phil Jackson is the coach.

Now, wait a second. Whoever anointed Shaq as the one-man Selection Committee? Sure, he’s the Big Aristotle and all that and he can push his weight around on the floor as much as the referees allow him to. But to push his weight around in influencing the choice of the next US national coach, Shaq’s going a little too far.

Or maybe Shaq’s mouthing off since he knows Jackson won’t get the job.

"Larry Brown’s the coach? There’s a pain on the outside of my knee in 2004," said O’Neal, quoted by the Associated Press. "If Phil’s not the coach, I probably will not play through the pain. However, Larry’s a great guy. He’s done a lot in basketball. I wish him well. I love Larry to death. It’s kind of too far to really think about it but my knee will be hurting in 2004."

Is Shaq kidding or what?

Brown, who’s the likely pick to coach the US team, said "it’s important to have our best players, period." Since O’Neal is clearly the NBA’s No. 1 center, he’d be at the top of Brown’s wish list of players for Athens.

Brown said O’Neal and Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant "fit the bill" as "high-character guys" who are "two of the best players in our league and with the way other teams around the world have improved, we need our best players."

Jackson said he agreed to be nominated as national coach but "I won’t be disappointed if (I’m) not chosen."

Coaching the US team is no joke. After Brown’s trip to Sydney as an assistant coach, he was physically and mentally exhausted for months. He even took a brief leave of absence from the Sixers during the 2000-01 season to recover from the fatigue. Jackson, who’s a lot more intense than Brown, enjoys his off-season vacation because he gives so much of himself during the NBA campaign. If Jackson coaches in Athens, he’ll sacrifice his summer and check in for the next NBA season with a lot less energy–something he wouldn’t relish considering there’s a $2 million bonus whetting his appetite for every championship.

Without Shaq, the US squad would still be formidable. Imagine a starting five of Duncan at center, Kenyon Martin at power forward, Kevin Garnett at the three spot, Bryant at two-guard and Jason Kidd at point guard. Then, think of a backup corps of Allen Iverson, Allen, McGrady, Shareef Abdur-Raheem, Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber and, why not, Michael Jordan who’ll be 41 by then.