LOS ANGELES -- Shaquille O'Neal took a backhanded swipe at one NBA player with ties to Utah but had rather kind words for a few others on Tuesday.
The subject was jewelry as O'Neal, speaking one day prior to tonight's Game 1 of the 2000 NBA Finals, addressed assembled media members at the Staples Center.Does a star need a championship ring, Shaq was asked, to validate his greatness? To answer, the Los Angeles Lakers center who is still seeking his first NBA title invoked names of some of the greatest players in Jazz history.
"If I'm walking in Utah and you tell me that John Stockton or Karl Malone aren't great, I'll punch you in your face," O'Neal said. "If you tell me Pistol Pete Maravich wasn't a great player, I'll punch you in your face. Guys like that are great."
Bolstering his stance, O'Neal reeled off a few more ring-free NBA stars: "(Charles) Barkley, (Patrick) Ewing, (Alonzo) Mourning." But Shaq couldn't let good-enough go. As a reporter started to ask a new question, O'Neal cracked up the interview room by blurting out one more name, that of a certain Dallas Mavericks center from BYU for whom he does not exactly have the greatest respect.
"Shawn Bradley."