It was a true pleasure to watch the Suns and Magic battle on Tuesday night and see Orlando’s original Superman go up against the Magic’s new Superman. Even at this age, Shaq can still out-muscle anyone in the paint just because of his sheer size and bulk. That’s not to say that Dwight Howard didn’t have his way on offense, either. The two were pretty even in terms of what they had done against each other until Shaq pulled off an AK47 flop after Dwight backed him down for a dunk in the 3rd quarter. That really got Magic coach Stan Van Gundy (Jeremy?) pretty steamed:
“I was shocked, seriously, shocked,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said of O’Neal’s flopping. “And very disappointed, ’cause he knows what it’s like. Let’s stand up and play like men, and I think our guy did that tonight.”
After Shaq got called for a tech, the Magic pulled away late in the 4th, getting a pair of big three-pointers by Rashard Lewis. It was a good game with the two sides pretty even throughout most of the contest. It’s just too bad that for all the funny and cool things Shaq does and says, he can be as equally jerky. The guy doesn’t like sharing the spotlight with anyone (unless it’s Kobe at the All-Star game and Shaq’s campaigning for a return to the Lakers), and he doesn’t like anyone encroaching on his legacy. For that reason, Shaq hasn’t been particularly nice to Dwight Howard, who clearly has taken the torch as the best big man in the game. Maybe Shaq will have a new perspective once he’s retired but I doubt it; he’s just that type of guy. Oh, and here’s the video of the flop in case you missed it:
