Shaquille O’Neal’s book will be released on November 15, but excerpts are already rolling in. And it’s no surprise that the Big Achilles was more than willing to throw anyone and everyone under the bus on his path to literary riches.
From what we know so far, Shaq takes shots at Kobe, LeBron, Mike Brown, Rajon Rondo, Glen Davis, Nate Robinson and, to a certain extent, Danny Ainge. And I’m sure it doesn’t stop there. Just call him the Big Bridge Burner.
The lesson? As always, Shaq’s a jerk (the power’s that be prohibit me from using the word I want).
A lovable guy? On the surface, sure. Entertaining as hell? Yup. One of the most dominant players in NBA history? Absolutely. A great rapper and an even better actor? DEFINITELY. But at the heart of it, he’s just not that great of a guy.
Nowadays, you don’t have to look far for reasons to question Shaq’s character, but I became convinced back in 2005, when the Big Tattle Tale failed the “Punk’d Test”
You remember the show. You put famous people in real situations where their celebrity doesn’t mean jack. Then you push their buttons and see who they really are.
Seriously, I’d learn more about a person in those 10-minute clips than in 200 canned interviews. It was fascinating.
Anyway, check out Shaq’s Punk’d episode: Where someone tries to steals his parking spot. He’s awful. He reminds me of every meat head bully I hated in college. He doesn’t show one ounce decency. He has less than zero respect for anyone.
And for that, I’ve always thought that the man behind the Shaq brand was, in reality, an ass.
And this book’s already well on its way to hammering that perception home.
Rich can be reached at rlevine@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Rich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rich_levine
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