One Way--or Another

INDIANAPOLIS —  There is the irresistible, lighthearted Happy Shaq, who is big, animated and loves to entertain anybody near him, even reporters.

And there is the dull-eyed inaudible Whisper Shaq, who mumbles the same robotic cliches in the same dreaded monotone that has run off media members the world over, including many the last few days.

Sometimes, in some very special instances, there is a dizzying combination of the two, such as Monday, when a reporter teased O’Neal for reverting to his usual lifeless mode of response.

“I THINK THAT! THEY CALLED THE GAME! PRETTY GOOD! YESTERDAY!!!!!” O’Neal suddenly roared, at full-foghorn decibel level, referring to the referees and waking up the media throng and probably several thousand households across the Midwest.

A little later, with the laughter finally subsiding, O’Neal smiled sunnily, and explained:

“Most of you guys have been watching me for most of my career and know I’m a smooth, mellow guy.”

But it is that prankster nature--the devilish and delightful side to the NBA’s most dominant player--that many Laker observers, including Coach Phil Jackson, wish would come out more often, and cherish when it does.

O’Neal, for his part, says he doesn’t like to reveal everything about himself to the world at large, and says he picks and chooses when to show his lighter side.

Of course, he says this from a cell phone on Monday evening, as--he swears--he is in a meeting to purchase a vintage “crop [dusting] plane” for “$200,000 or $300,000,” the first in what he says will be a collection of World War I and World War II airplanes that he will keep at his house.

Then he laughs. A crop plane?

“This year has been fun, but I’m the type of person . . . I don’t like to share all my secrets,” he said. “I like people to think I’m one way, but really I’m not--I’m another.

“You know I’m a funny guy, but a lot of people don’t know that, and I don’t want them to know.”

Does he believe that he has played better this season, perhaps, because he has been more open with his feelings than in the past?

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “We all have a job to do. I’m the type of person, I can play when I’m mad, like when you write a messed-up article about me. I can be very mad.”

Then he laughs again.

A more animated Shaq, many believe, both on the court and off, is more of a leader, more of a joy to behold, and less likely to feel weighed down by the responsibilities of life as the most feared player since Wilt Chamberlain.

And they believe that O’Neal’s more consistent, and more consistently bighearted play this season is at least partly a result of his looser approach to basketball.

There is a link, Jackson says, between O’Neal’s first most-valuable-player award this season, and the long list of goofy nicknames he has fashioned for himself and the yelps and guffaws he has elicited in the Laker locker room.

“I really encouraged him at the beginning of the season not to get entrenched in what he had become in the last two years,” Jackson said, “where he felt more weight in carrying this team and most of his responses to the press were monotone, monosyllabic kind of answers, reluctant.

“As he’s had more success, he’s been much more vocal and humorous and allowed his personality to show through. And that’s the one thing about Shaq--he’s a very endearing person, people who have been around the NBA like him.

“He is not the removed giant like Chamberlain was, or the austere one like Kareem was. He has quotable, humorous things [to say].”

Derek Fisher, who has been with O’Neal for the center’s entire Laker career, says that he has always noticed that O’Neal, upon whom so much depends, often plays as if he is dragging an entire franchise around his neck.

“He plays well under pressure, but at the same time, he feels the pressure,” Fisher said. “I think for him, because of who he is and how many things he really has going on, both on and off the court, just keeping his whole life in balance. . . .

“I think he honestly feels the weight of the world on his shoulders. And at the same time, he feels like the world is his. It really is. Because it’s all on his back.

“I think a lot of times when he gets to the free-throw line, he feels that pressure. And a lot of times, late in basketball games in the fourth quarter, he feels that pressure.

“Whenever things go bad for us, he’s pretty much the focus, ‘Well, did Shaquille make his free throws?’ Or, ‘Shaquille only had two points in the fourth quarter. . . .’ Whatever it may be. He feels that.”

Behind closed doors, when it’s just O’Neal and his teammates, Fisher said O’Neal is fun-loving and constantly amused, both the man the Lakers look to and the one they laugh with.

“That’s who he is,” Fisher said. “You can’t make a concerted effort to be something that you aren’t.

“Shaquille, he’s a guy who enjoys being in the lighter mood, enjoys having fun and enjoying all the opportunities and the doors that are open, getting the opportunity to play in the NBA and all the things that come with that.

“Sometimes, you focus too hard on being really serious and concentrate. But he’s the best. He’s the best in this game right now, and there are going to be times when you’re trying a little too hard to make things happen, because we all do.”

O’Neal is the team leader in points, rebounds and definitely in practical jokes, always the guy laughing loudest when the rookie gets tweaked or the public-relations assistant gets drenched in water.

Possibly the most consistent outlet for O’Neal’s humor, at least with reporters he knows well, has been his running list of nicknames for himself, coming at least once a week, and usually faster than that.

His best nickname for himself?

“My favorite is ‘Big Aristotle,’ ” which he unveiled at the news conference to award him the MVP, and which was conceived when he read a book of quotations, and came upon one he particularly liked from the Greek philosopher. “Yeah, that was a good one.”

Why does he give himself so many nicknames?

“I think it shows that I have intelligence,” he said. “And once I win [a title], I’m going to have a new one for you. It’s a nice one.”

Beyond the humor, his teammates say that O’Neal has asserted his personality in another particularly important way this season--he is, without question, the leader of the team, emotionally and spiritually.

When he is up, the team is up. When he is down, the team can get down too. Even Monday, after the Game 3 loss to the Indiana Pacers, the team looked to O’Neal, and he led them out of any mini-depression.

“We have to go out there and we have to have fun. I think everyone does better when you’re having fun,” guard Brian Shaw said.

“We’ve been a loose group all year long and have a lot of jokers on this team. . . . You know, last night after the game, it was pretty quiet on the bus on the way back to the hotel, but this morning, everything was back to normal.

“Shaq just said we’re going to bounce back and get it on Wednesday. When you see him . . . he didn’t hang his head or anything, he wasn’t upset. He knew we could play a lot better than we did.”

O’Neal says he would rather lead by example, but also recognizes that there comes a time when the team’s best player also has to be its most vocal.

“I just think I’ve been injury-free,” O’Neal said. “I’ve stayed out of trouble and all of my personal expectations have been filled. . . .

“I’ve been able to lead more by example, playing 80 games. I’ve never been much to voice my opinion--guys should know how to play the game and should know their game, know their roles.

“How can you get somebody to do something? Explain that to me. By yelling at them?”

But hasn’t O’Neal yelled at a few of his teammates, and hasn’t Jackson encouraged him to be out in front?

“I do every now and then,” O’Neal said, “but some guys you really can’t yell at and some guys you can. . . . Phil just gave me a list of what he wants me to do, he knew everything else would fall into place.”

Speaking of falling into place. . . . O’Neal hasn’t been shy in the past about imagining what it would be like when he finally wins a championship, about the champagne bursts and loud celebrations. . . .

Has he allowed himself to picture that soggy scene, now only two victories away?

“I haven’t thought about it yet,” he said. “It gets closer and closer. . . . But I haven’t really thought about it. Once it happens, then I’ll think about it.

“That’d be really fun.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

When Plain, Old Shaq Won’t Do . . .

Partial list of nicknames Shaquille O’Neal has given himself this season:

* “Big Aristotle”--After winning the most-valuable-player award, and reading a quote from the Greek philosopher about the consistency of greatness.

* “Big Maravich”--In honor of Louisiana State and NBA star Pete Maravich, after O’Neal made all nine of his free throws against Portland in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.

* “The Big Homage”--After Portland Coach Mike Dunleavy used the Hack-a-Shaq strategy in Game 1, which O’Neal described as a homage to the strength of his game.

* “The Big Felon”--After a game-saving steal at Orlando in February, as a tribute to his defensive thievery.

* “Big Luggage”--After a particularly stylish drive in open court, as a tribute to his “handles,” or hands.

* “The Big Historical”--Explanation: “Because everything I do is a part of history.”

* “The Big Continuous”--Explanation, after trouncing the New York Knicks in March: “Mikan, Wilt, Kareem and now me.”

* “The Big Cordially”--Explanation: “Because I’m nice.”

* “The Big Clutch”--After making a go-ahead free throw with 6.5 seconds left at Sacramento, then blocking Vlade Divac’s jumper at the buzzer.

* “I’m like the Pythagorean theorem--not too many people know the answer to my game”--Self-explanatory.

* “The Combo”--Nickname for himself and Kobe Bryant. Explanation, as he settled into a fighter’s stance and starting throwing punches into the air: “Me and Kobe can get you 1-2! This way. Or 1-2! this way.”