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| SHAQUILLE O'NEAL & KOBE BRYANT |
"It's going to be great," Bryant said following the Lakers' win Saturday over the Kings. "It's well-deserved, beyond well-deserved. I'm very very happy for him and proud of him."
Bryant practiced Monday and plans to play against Dallas despite nursing bone spurs in his left foot and a sprained left ankle. Coach Mike D'Antoni said it's "doubtful" Steve Nash will suit up against the Mavericks missing Monday's practice because of a strained right hamstring.
Neither Bryant nor Nash talked to reporters Monday. But following the Lakers' win Feb. 12 against the Phoenix Suns, Bryant provided a surprising revelation regarding O'Neal.
"Shaq and I have a really, really good relationship now. We appreciate each other more now than ever," Bryant said. "The further you get away from the history that you had together, the more you put perspective on it on how dominant we were."
Bryant will provide such perspective in his taped message during O'Neal's half-time ceremony. Former Lakers coach Phil Jackson and Lakers executive vice president of business operations Jeanie Buss will also speak. And a highlight video will feature showcase how O'Neal won three of his four NBA championships with the Lakers , averaging 27 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.5 blocks in eight seasons.
D'Antoni, who coached O'Neal one season in Phoenix, believed he "changed basketball."
"Everything you do if you're preparing against his team, you talk about Shaq 90 percent of the time," D'Antoni said. "" There's very few guys you spend the whole scouting meeting talking about and he's one of those guys."
Forward Pau Gasol considered O'Neal the hardest player to guard.
"He was a brick wall," Gasol said. "He was hard. It was impossible to get through him. I was happy when I got around him.
"You always try to put a body on him and initiate the contact before you initiate it. Otherwise, you're done."
That's why the Lakers immediately announced they would retire O'Neal's No. 34 jersey when he announced his retirement following a 19-year career that included stops with the Orlando Magic (1992-96), Lakers (1996-2004), Miami Heat (2004-08), Phoenix Suns (2007-09), Cleveland Cavaliers (2009-10) and Boston Celtics (2010-11).
O'Neal's jersey will join other famed Lakers on the Staples Center rafters, including Magic Johnson (No. 32), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (33), Jerry West (44), Elgin Baylor (22) Wilt Chamberlain (13), Gail Goodrich (25), James Worthy (42) and Jamaal Wilkes (52).
"I'm happy for Shaq," center Dwight Howard said. "That's a big accomplishment for any NBA player to have their jersey retired.
He's done a lot for the Lakers' organization. "He's done a lot for the NBA. He deserves it."
Howard offered a long pause before his answer, perhaps because they have traded public barbs in recent seasons. But that doesn't compare to how Bryant and O'Neal interacted.
Bryant and O'Neal openly bickered. O'Neal disliked Bryant's shooting tendencies. Bryant couldn't stand O'Neal's conditioning. The Lakers eventually traded O'Neal in 2004 to Miami.
Bryant has spent more time this season waxing nostalgic about their time together than expressing any resentment over how it ended.
"I had a chance to see him this season," Bryant said, "and (the ceremony) is going to be very very special."
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