Management wants Shaq to cool off
By Ross Siler , Staff Writer
Pasdena Star News
Only seven days have passed since the Lakers were eliminated from the NBA Finals, but time enough for Phil Jackson and the team to part ways, for Kobe Bryant to opt out of his contract and for Shaquille O'Neal to make trade demands to reporters.
But not enough time for Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak to decide what to do with O'Neal. For now, Kupchak hopes some distance from the season and, possibly, the hiring of a new coach will be enough to bring the big man back to the Lakers' fold.
Kupchak said Monday he had not spoken with O'Neal or his representatives in the past week and suggested that O'Neal's comments Friday about wanting out of Los Angeles might have come in the heat of the moment.
On Friday, O'Neal pointedly said: "So I want you guys to write that if any GM out there wants a hard-working big man who wants to win championships, call Mitch Kupchak because he'll entertain offers.'
To which Kupchak responded Monday: "It's certainly not something that should be played out publicly; I don't think I'm out of line by saying that. Yet we've all been around Shaquille for a bunch of years now and he kind of wears his emotions on his sleeves.
"And he says the first thing that comes to his mind. And sometimes, it's with thought and sometimes it's not. I would say most of the time it is.
"But that's just the way he is. In the past, he's commented about me, he's commented about our coach. And some comments are good, some aren't good. So it's probably best that we keep those things behind closed doors.'
During his season-ending news conference Thursday, Kupchak said under no circumstances would he trade Bryant but would not rule out the possibility of trading O'Neal.
Those remarks angered O'Neal to the point that he reportedly demanded a trade through agent Perry Rogers. Rogers did not return a call seeking comment Monday.
Kupchak, meanwhile, said he needed to hear O'Neal or his agents say personally that he wanted to be traded in order to address the seriousness of the situation.
"Other than what I've read in the paper, I have not heard otherwise,' Kupchak said. "So I would like to hear first-hand from his representatives exactly where they stand. I talk to representatives all the time, and it's important for me to know how our players feel.'
But Kupchak said that he would not like trading O'Neal and would wait to do so even if O'Neal's position remains unchanged.
"That's not something we want to do or is it something we prefer to do,' Kupchak said. "As you know, he's under contract for two more years ... There's a lot of emotion that goes along with a season that we had, that ended like ours did.
"Expectations were just so high that I'm a little bit concerned that we just won't get past that.'
O'Neal is due to make a league-high $27.7 million next season and trading him would be a complicated matter as teams over the salary cap would have to return players to the Lakers with contracts equal to at least 85 percent of what O'Neal would have made, according to the collective bargaining agreement.
Orlando Magic guard Tracy McGrady told a Florida newspaper over the weekend that he and O'Neal talked about playing for Mark Cuban in Dallas next season. But a seven-player trade sending McGrady to Houston reportedly was near completion Monday.
"We talk all the time about it,' McGrady told Florida Today on Saturday. "Me and the Big Fella are trying to get to Dallas together now.'
With Rudy Tomjanovich set to interview today for the Lakers head coaching job, Kupchak said he hoped to have a new coach in place by the start of July. He said he would interview multiple candidates but suggested if not by name that Tomjanovich has the credentials they are seeking.
"We feel that next year, we're going to be in a position to win,' Kupchak said. "And I don't think we want to take the chance that we're going to experiment with an unproven coach. I'm not ruling out the possibility that our coach could be an assistant coach on our team or another team.
"But I think, at this time, we want to indicate that we feel committed to continue to win here. And I think, at least initially, our best chances would be with a coach that has some NBA head-coaching experience.'
Tomjanovich, though, might not be as inclined to take the Lakers job if O'Neal left for another team.
And so started the first full week of the Lakers' off-season. The team also has a draft to prepare for Thursday. The focus, though, seems to be on trying to move forward from the Finals loss and the drama that engulfed the season.
"When it's that personal and it doesn't go the way you hope, there's just as much emotion going the other way,' Kupchak said. "I think that has a lot to do with things. And certainly with some passage of time, maybe a new coach, maybe some things might change.'
The Lakers have left Jamal Sampson and Rick Fox unprotected and available to the Charlotte Bobcats in today's NBA expansion draft. The Bobcats can select only one player from each team, though, and Sampson has been given indications he could be taken.
Phoenix's Jahidi White and Cleveland's Jason Kapono (UCLA) are expected to be among Charlotte's selections.
Jackson attended to final business Monday at the Lakers' offices and Kupchak said the team and coach parted on good, albeit slightly awkward, relations.
"I don't think it's a situation where you clean out an office and you're gone the next day,' Kupchak said. "So it's not that type of environment.
"He walked by a little while ago and I said, 'Hey Coach,' and kind of looked at him. And I wondered to myself, 'Did I say the wrong thing?''
Ross Siler can be reached at (818) 713-3607.