Shaq

I have to admit I feel a little sad (and old) to see Shaquille O' Neal tweet that he is retiring from the NBA. 

Shaq and I were both "rookies" in 1992, although his first-year salary was a tad more than mine.  It's been fun to follow his career, and our paths crossed on several occasions.

In the summer of 1994, Dream Team II was practicing in Charlotte and the sports station (then known as Fox 610 Sports) sent me to cover the workout.  My mission was to get Shaq as a guest on the afternoon show, though no one thought that would be possible.

But surprisingly the big fella agreed, offering a "Sure thing, Bruh!" to seal the deal.  I handed him the Zach Morris model cell phone, and we waited through what seemed to be the longest commercial break in radio history.  Finally, friend and producer Mark Yarbro gave me the 30-second cue and I prepared to bask in the kudos I would surely be receiving for landing an A-list guest.

However, portly coach Don Nelson then summoned the players to the team bus to go back to the hotel.  Shaq handed me the phone, gave me a "Sorry, Bruh!" and was gone.  And no one really cared that I ALMOST booked Shaq.

More than a decade later, the Diesel was now playing for the Miami Heat and was at the height of his feud with former Laker buddy Kobe Bryant.  The Heat were in Charlotte to meet the Bobcats, and an out-of-town writer hired me to get quotes from O'Neal for a magazine story he was doing on the Shaq-Kobe rift.

I went to the lockerroom before the game and was told by a Miami PR person that Shaq likely would not talk before the game and was definitely tired of talking about Bryant, but that I was welcome to stay and try.  This time I got my man and Shaq gave about 15 minutes of pure gold, alternately bashing Bryant and praising new running mate Dwyane Wade.  I wish now that I still had that tape.

On a completely unrelated note, I used to keep some of the mail I received with variously misspellings of my name.  The favorite piece I ever got was addressed to "Shaq" Griffin.  Awesome.