Shaq’s rap costs him again

Shaquille O’Neal’s raunchy rap in which he mocked former teammate Kobe Bryant is costing him another of his lawman badges.

Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown said Wednesday that he has asked the Phoenix Suns center to return a badge he was given for his work with the southwest Virginia county’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Brown says O’Neal’s likeness also will no longer be used to promote Operation Blue Ridge Thunder, a unit of the department that O’Neal worked with in investigating Internet predators. O’Neal served as a reserve deputy for the sheriff’s department from 2004 through the end of 2007.

The decision comes one day after a sheriff in Arizona asked O’Neal to return a special deputy’s badge because of language he used in the rap.

The freestyle rap was recorded and posted at TMZ.com.

Raptors to deal for O’Neal

The Toronto Raptors have agreed in principle to acquire forward Jermaine O’Neal from Indiana for point guard T.J. Ford, center Rasho Nesterovic, the 17th pick in the draft and a player to be named, the Canadian Press reported.

Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo cautioned that he was in the midst of “four or five” conversations with teams involving Ford and a combination of Toronto’s No. 17 pick and/or other Raptors players.

Around the league

A defense lawyer says disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy shouldn’t have to return about $500,000 in pay from three seasons starting in 2003. Defense attorney John Lauro told a federal judge that while his client bet on games he never rigged any games, so he earned the money honestly. … The Charlotte Bobcats acquired the No. 20 pick in the NBA draft from the Denver Nuggets for a future protected first-round pick. … The New Orleans Hornets have agreed to send their first-round draft pick, the 27th overall, to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for cash.