Things have gotten so bad around Staples Center that management has taken to tribute nights for the championship LAKERS of the past.  Showtime returned to Los Angles, as the 1985 World Champion LAKERS were honored at halftime of the LA-PHOENIX game.  All of the members of that team, which featured KAREEM ABDHUL JABBAR, MAGIC JOHNSON, JAMES WORTHY, BYRON SCOTT, MICHAEL COOPER, BOB McADOO, KURT RAMBIS, MITCH KUPCHAK, JAMAAL WILKES and also included EARL JONES, RONNIE LESTER, MIKE McGEE, CHUCK NEVITT and LARRY SPRIGGS were in attendance.  As were management legends, JERRY WEST, PAT RILEY and BILL BERTKA.

 And yes, this event has been scheduled for some time.  It wasn’t drummed up to boost the sagging fortunes of this year’s lowly team.  But at least management could have set it up for the MIAMI HEAT date here last month, so SHAQ could have seen what a real championship team looks like.  Essentially the same bunch won 5 titles in the 80’s, with KAREEM and MAGIC finding a way to stay together for the good of the legacy.

 SHAQ and KOBE could have done that squad quite a bit better, winning the first 3 titles of the new millennium, before falling apart in a bitter shame for the franchise.

 A pall has fallen upon Los Angeles, as LAKER fans face the reality, that for the first time since 1994, and only the fourth time in their 45-year history, the LOS ANGELES LAKERS will not be going to the playoffs.  The inevitable has been on people's minds during the end of season collapse as the team has now lost 15 of their last 17 games, including to PHOENIX on this grand evening.  The LAKERS have even fallen behind the CLIPPERS in the standings.

 During this slump, much of the blame has been heaped upon KOBE BRYANT.  He's too selfish; he's only interested in his stats; no one wants to play with him; he drove PHIL and SHAQ away.  Nonsense.  KOBE is not the problem.  SHAQ was. 

 Recall, it was SHAQ’s team.  And it was SHAQ who turned down a contract extension in the amount of $75 million, an amount that would have tied the team to his whims for the next 3 years.  SHAQ wanted $90 million.  And it's not like he went out and tried to earn his money.  While demanding top dollar and total commitment from the franchise, SHAQ could barely be bothered with the business of playing basketball.  When he did show up to play he was never in shape, he demanded the offense and the ball run strictly through him; he rarely played defense;  he refused to work on his fundamentals, like a touch from 3 feet or his free throws;  he did little to foster harmony on “his” team, and he was hardly the dominant player he liked to refer to himself as.

 Yeah, we're not going to see the championship parades for some time, but it has been 3 years since reality.  SHAQ'S only been gone one of those years.  He had it all, and he was bored, or lazy, or whatever.  Three championship rings and nothing but beaten franchises in his path to more.  However many he and KOBE wanted.  But SHAQ didn't want it.

 In 2002 he decided to have surgery on company time, instead of during the off-season.  That little fiasco left the team playing catch-up all year long, only to lose to SAN ANTONIO in the second round of the playoffs. TIM DUNCAN, a player with all of the dedication and discipline SHAQ was lacking, embarrassed O’NEAL.  To show his loyalties to LA, the team, and even to his favorite coach, PHIL JACKSON, SHAQ left the locker room after that heartbreaking loss, abandoned his teammates and disdained the exit interviews.  JACKSON had harsh words for his superstar center, in hopes of pulling him back on board for the next season.

 That of course was not the case.  SHAQ opened the 2003 campaign in a fierce public feud with KOBE BRYANT, who was embroiled in the struggle of his life in a Colorado courtroom.  No doubt SHAQ didn't appreciate all of the attention, and the special treatment the franchise was heaping on its younger superstar, and he made sure everybody knew it.  The season was rocky, to say the least, but the team did make it to the NBA Finals.

 There, SHAQ was thoroughly outplayed by a number of DETROIT "big men", including ELDEN CAMPBELL of all people.  Routinely O'NEAL was beaten up and down the court, as his habit of playing the game out of shape caught up with him.  The LAKERS, with the mighty SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, and two carpetbagger Hall-of-Famers in search of rings of their own, were dismissed in 4 games by the PISTONS.  Swept out of the playoffs in the Finals with SHAQ.  Is that any better than not getting there without him?

 SHAQ had no particular allegiance to KOBE BRYANT.    That was obvious.  And he had no love for the team, Dr. JERRY BUSS, or the City of LA either.  Nor did he care that KARL MALONE and GARY PAYTON made significant sacrifices in order to win an NBA Championship.  He couldn't be bothered with any of it.  So now we are supposed to lament that he is gone.

 What did motivate him was revenge and the vindication of his enormous ego.  And the only way that was going to happen was by him going elsewhere to exact his vengeance on his former team.  SHAQ showed up to camp in Miami in the best shape of his life.  No longer did we hear the mantra that he needed the ball, or that the offense had to go through him.  He didn't whine or mope when a young developing superstar scored more than he did, or took the reigns on offense.  All of a sudden SHAQ was a team player, and by the way, he is playing for the same amount of money the LAKERS were willing to pay him and which he denied on his dash out of LA.  Imagine that.

 For all of you LAKER fans longing for the BIG DIESEL-wake up!.  It's been 3 years and those times have come and gone.  It's been just 1 year since the franchise was forced to do something about it.  Things will get better.  It's darkest just before the light; you have to hit rock bottom, and all that.  Rock bottom might be a month or so away when SHAQ and DWAYNE WADE hoist the trophy in June.  That will be hard.  But it would not have happened here again with SHAQ.  Not without Dr. JERRY BUSS handing him the keys to the franchise, and the entire city bowing down to his mere presence.

 If MIAMI wins it all, it will be the culmination of a betrayal that began 3 years ago.  For those of us who recognized that  2 years ago, the pain is already fading.  Face the reality that the LAKERS are evolving, and get back on the wagon.  Sip the coolaid.  Dr. BUSS has demonstrated a dedication to fielding competitive, championship teams in Los Angeles.  If nothing else, last night was a fine reminder of that.  Showtime was here long before SHAQ donned the purple and gold, and it will return.  KOBE BRYANT wants it, and will find his way back to the Finals where we will have revenge of our own.

 It's too bad guys who make more money than God and garner more attention than BRITNEY SPEARS need such a silly emotion to keep them interested.  You’d think playing basketball for a living, winning and going down in history as the best of all time would be enough. 

 Meanwhile, go PHOENIX!