Shaq Lacks Charm With Media

So there’s Shaquille O’Neal hammering down dunks and holding off the Western Conference team in the fourth quarter of the All-Star Game. Michael Jordan is watching patiently. And, with about 3 minutes left, the media are asked to vote for Most Valuable Player.

“So who should I vote for?” one of seven media voters asked a colleague on press row.

“The heck with the whispering jerk,” the colleague said. “Vote for Jordan.”

And so it was that Michael Jordan, by a 4-3 margin, won his second All-Star Game MVP and Shaquille O’Neal said he’s done with All-Star Games.

Unfortunately, the media are people too, and they can react stupidly.

But, as Albert Belle found out in baseball last fall when he failed to win American League MVP, uncooperative behavior can be costly.

Now, it’s not as though O’Neal is an Albert Belle. In fact, O’Neal can be charming and playful and fun to be around.

He just doesn’t care to be that way when the media are around.

And he knows what he’s doing. He calls it the SHAM Short Answer Method.

That’s when O’Neal answers almost all questions with an almost-whispered “Playin’ hard,” or “Doin’ my best.”

And O’Neal has got the response he sought.

National reporters rarely crowd him anymore for these nuggets of information. O’Neal’s postgame media sessions are thus shorter, and he can do his real rappin’ sooner.

That’s his right. No one has to answer a series of inane questions after every game.

But the price can be, as O’Neal found out, media rejection, which means fewer national honors because the media vote for most postseason and all-star awards.

Jordan, on the other hand, is almost always charming, patient and gives you that “What an interesting question” look even when he’s thinking, “Moron!” That can be the edge for MVP awards. An edge O’Neal doesn’t have.

Future schlock

Portland’s P.J. Carlesimo and Milwaukee’s Mike Dunleavy are two coaches with poor futures coming out of the trading deadline.

Carlesimo looks like he’s been left hanging and will be gone after the season now that Portland elected to keep Rod Strickland. Strickland blasted and cursed Carlesimo in front of the team at practice Wednesday.

And in Milwaukee, Vin Baker refused to ride back to the hotel with the team after a blowout loss in Charlotte last week. He then had his agent, Lou Albanese, condemn the way the team is being handled.

Said Albanese: “He’s become very frustrated with the whole situation. Everyone has the green light to shoot. Vin wants more of a team concept, and it’s not happening. He’s had enough.”

Baker also is unhappy that when Glenn Robinson signed his contract, the Bucks gave Baker a new deal for sacrificing a clause that would have made Baker a free agent this summer.

Whither Williams?

The Bulls and Magic are fighting for more than victory in today’s game. They are the top two choices of veteran center Herb Williams, who was released by the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Williams, a 6-11 shotblocker from Ohio State, has said he’d like to sign with the Bulls or Magic. The Bulls are considering releasing James Edwards if they pick up Williams. The Rockets are also a possibility for Williams since Clyde Drexler is going on the injured list for knee problems.