Bird would deal an unhappy O'Neal

["JSC" <jaimscastillo@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bird would deal an unhappy O'Neal

By STEVE WILSTEIN, AP Sports Columnist
September 4, 2003

Worse than a whining athlete is a young whining athlete making $126 million.
To the rest of the paycheck-to-paycheck world, it's ludicrous. To a Hall of
Famer who knows what it takes to win, it's intolerable.
Jermaine O'Neal ticked off Larry Bird by saying he wouldn't have signed the
seven-year deal with the Indiana Pacers for that surreal sum last month if
he knew the new boss was going to fire coach Isiah Thomas. The 6-foot-11
forward-center stopped short of demanding a trade, but made it clear it was
on his mind.
Bird, a straight shooter in a suit as he was in a uniform, suggested
Wednesday he'd accommodate O'Neal if he wanted to play somewhere else -- 
provided the Pacers got ``something good in return.'' Bird never had much
patience for whining, figuring it got in the way of winning.

At the introduction of new head coach Rick Carlisle, Bird said he hoped
O'Neal would reconsider his commitment to the team and have a great year.
``Then if he wants to leave town next year,'' Bird said, ``we'll have to
talk about it.''
They're going to sit down soon, Larry Legend and the Pacers' ``20-10 man,''
the numbers referring to O'Neal's points and rebounds a game and the year
his contract ends. They'll try to work out O'Neal's ``issues,'' Bird said.
``I've been very firm all along, even when I took the coaching job,'' Bird
said. ``If we had players that weren't happy here, we would try to do our
best to move them somewhere.''
O'Neal was going nowhere fast for the Portland Trail Blazers, riding the
bench for most of four seasons before he found his game and an opportunity
in Indiana under Thomas. Once the youngest player in the NBA at 17 in 1996
when he and another precocious teen, Kobe Bryant, were rookies and friends,
the 24-year-old O'Neal came to regard Thomas as a father figure as much as a
coach.
It's understandable, even honorable, that O'Neal would stand up for Thomas
when confronted with the news of the firing last week in Puerto Rico. O'Neal
was cruising to a gold medal with the U.S. team at the Tournament of the
Americas in qualifying games for the 2004 Olympics when he found out Thomas
was gone. Saying he was ``extremely disappointed'' and hurt by the decision,
O'Neal implied that the Pacers misled him into believing Thomas would be
staying.
As young as he still is, O'Neal is not naive. He's been around the NBA long
enough to know that no coach is safe -- especially one who has an edgy
history with the new president of basketball operations, on and off the
court. Carlisle is Bird's man, a former Boston Celtics teammate and Pacers
assistant coach, as Thomas never would have been.
O'Neal perfected his pout as a rookie -- unhappy with his bench time, the
gray, drizzly weather in Portland and the local fondness for fish. He was
grateful to go to Indiana and, for 126 million reasons, he should be happy
to stay and not start pouting again.
The Pacers need his heart as much as his tall, strong body and soft touch.
He can help make them a contender this year. Or, if he comes back sulking,
he can break them.
Carlisle wisely reached out to O'Neal and gave him respect to begin the
healing. He kept details of their ``nice conversation'' on Saturday private,
but said he could appreciate Thomas' closeness to O'Neal, comparing it to
his own in Detroit with Jerry Stackhouse.
``I told Jermaine that I understand what Isiah Thomas means to him, not only
as a coach but as a mentor, as a friend and as a father figure,'' Carlisle
said. ``I will in no way, shape or form try to replace that. Isiah Thomas
will continue to be an important part of Jermaine's life and his basketball
life and development.''
Carlisle gave Thomas a few figurative pats in his first words as the Pacers'
coach, crediting him with instilling the right attitude about winning.
Taking over on the brink of the season, Carlisle can't afford to alienate
other players who may feel the way O'Neal does.
In describing his own abrupt changes lately -- fired from the Detroit
Pistons, headed toward a TV job, made a U-turn back to coaching in
Indiana -- Carlisle told an anecdote he surely will repeat to his players.
``Years ago, when I was working for Chuck Daly, he once said that the NBA is
a business of dynamic change and great opportunity,'' Carlisle said. ``As I
look back upon the events of the last three months, I've never come so to
grips with that statement.''
He spoke about the changes the Pacers have made this summer, at the top and
in the locker room, and how those changes create opportunities for several
players.
This is a team in transition, led by a Hall of Famer with a certain vision
of the game -- how it should be played and how players should perform. Bird
brought that vision to the Pacers as a coach and failed only by his own high
standards. For him it was always championship or bust.
Pursuing that now as a team president, he didn't hesitate to change coaches
and he won't flinch from dealing O'Neal, or anyone else, who doesn't like
it.
Steve Wilstein is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press.
Write to him at swilstein(at)ap.org

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shawn Niles" <shizzjr@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <jaimscastillo@xxxxxxxxxxx>; <celtics@xxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, September 05, 2003 8:45 PM
Subject: Re: Something the Celtics should pounce on...


> Where did you read that Bird is willing to deal?
>
>
> >From: "JSC" <jaimscastillo@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> >To: "Celtics" <celtics@xxxxxxxx>
> >Subject: Something the Celtics should pounce on...
> >Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 20:31:37 +0800
> >
> >I just read that Bird is willing to deal Jermaine Oneal as long as they
get
> >something in return...
> >
> >I hope Danny cooks up something to bring Oneal on board...trade anybody
in the
> >team except Pierce...
> >
> >Would Bird consider a Walker-Oneal trade?  Do the numbers work?
> >
> >This is a far fetched dream but I do hope the team at least make some
offer or
> >something here!
> >
> >
> >Jaims