Shaq Plays Mind Games

He says the real response will come next season, when the Lakers play at Orlando again, but Shaquille O’Neal decided not to wait that long to at least return fire at the Magic players who mocked him for being in town Sunday but deciding not to come to the game.

“I’m not surprised,” O’Neal said Wednesday. “I’m surprised I’m still on their minds. I must be somebody because I’m still on their minds.”

O’Neal instead watched the Lakers get ripped on TV from his mother’s home nearby.

O’Neal said he has been practicing the last few days with Magic Johnson’s touring team. He said he has been “doing everything,” which the Lakers say is fine as long as everything means all the drills. He has yet to be cleared for scrimmages and other contact activities.

“Right now,” O’Neal said, “I’m in Sean Rooks-type shape.”