After the Celtics lost to the Magic on Christmas Day, Shaquille O’Neal was extremely unhappy with the game’s officials. During his postgame press conference, you got the impression that Shaq wanted to be fined if it meant being able to take a shot at the refs. He accomplished that goal when he referred to the officiating crew as “control freaks.”
The NBA fined Shaq $35,000 for the comments, but the artist recently known as Shaqeeta made it clear that he didn’t give a crap when reporters asked him about it on Monday.
“Whoop-de-freakin-doo,” O’Neal said. “That’s my reaction. Here’s my quote: Over my 18-year career, I’ve probably paid $90 million in federal tax, $20 million in FICA and $1 million in David Stern Tax.”
Considering how long Shaq has been around, I doubt Stern will break his stones too much and slap him with another fine for basically laughing in the face of the NBA’s disciplinary system. In reality, Big Daddy Diesel is just saying what everyone else in the league feels when they get a fine. Imagine going to work, saying something about your boss, and getting a $10 fine for it. I’m sure you’d be terrified into not doing it again, right? The ability to blow off steam and dog the refs was obviously worth $35,000 to the big guy.
