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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Letting O'Neal go not wise

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

On display in the manager's office at the Stan Sheriff Center on the University of Hawai'i-Manoa campus are a pair of Shaquille O'Neal's custom-made sneakers, souvenirs of his training camps here with the Lakers.

They are also a size-22 reminder of the beyond-imposing shoes that could soon be left to fill in Los Angeles.

Barring an 11th-hour change of mind, it seems O'Neal will be dealt to the Miami Heat. As early as a minute after midnight tonight, when the NBA moratorium on trades is lifted, the most dominating force in basketball today could switch coasts in a single bound, narrowing the once vast gap between Los Angeles' two disparate NBA teams.

You don't have to be a Laker fan to see the folly of this swap or the decision that set it in motion, Lakers' owner Jerry Buss offering his kingdom to Kobe Bryant on a platter last month.

It was that bewildering move that raised O'Neal's pique and helped put him on the market after the NBA playoffs that has brought matters to this point.

Now, for the price of Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, Caron Butler and a first-round draft choice — a potential trinkets-for-Manhattan swap if there ever was one — the Heat can have O'Neal. And, Bryant can be offered the option of an Allen Iverson-like 35 shots a game.

All of a sudden, apparently Michael Jordan wants to buy a piece of the Heat. You don't see Jordan, or anyone else, offering to put down money on the barrel to buy a piece of the Lakers, though.

The interest in this trade isn't so much in what it can do for the Heat, who, with some luck, might even make the Eastern finals. Rather it is in what it takes away from the Lakers. Which, given the 7-foot-1, 340-pound O'Neal who helped the Lakers dominate until Detroit came along, is plenty.

Had the Lakers been unable to get the United Nations to mediate the Shaq-Kobe uncivil war, they would have been much better advised to hang onto O'Neal and build around his intimidating and game-altering presence. Centers like him come around once every couple decades and are worth their weight in federal reserve notes, as the presence of the Staples Center reminds us.

Now, the Lakers get to find out how far Bryant can take them without help from the big fella. That's if the Colorado justice system or the Clippers, who seem willing to relocate to his back yard, if necessary, don't get their hands on Bryant first.

The numbers — 36-8 in games with O'Neal and without Bryant, compared with 55-45 the other way around, according to the Los Angeles Times — suggest this is a situation the Lakers should have wanted to avoid rather than court.

If O'Neal ends up in Miami and the Lakers don't find their way back to the title under Bryant, the best use for those shoes in Rich Sheriff's office might be a swift kick to Lakers' ownership.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.