Hack-a-Shaq fights back

By Jared Spinelli Sports Central Columnist It had to happen sometime. Sooner or later, we all knew Shaquille O'Neal would snap.

For the past few years, teams had developed a plan to defeat the Lakers: when Shaq gets the ball near the basket, hack him. Foul him. Do anything to him that will prevent a dunk. But, Shaq finally snapped. This time, "Hack-A-Shaq" finally fought back.

A few days ago, when Chicago Bulls center Brad Miller and forward Charles Oakley "hacked" O'Neal pretty hard (it was a flagrant foul), O'Neal immediately turned and threw a behemoth, wailing punch that narrowly missed the back of Miller's head. Shaq then tackled the center, and a wild melee ensued, which included a giant pile of players in the corner of the court, including Oakley trying to get O'Neal off of Miller.

What would the repercussions be for such an incident? O'Neal received a suspension of three games and was fined $15,000 by the league. Miller and Oakley each received a one-game suspension for committing the flagrant foul (Oakley also got a second for accumulating too many flagrant foul points). Oakley was also fined $10,000, and Miller $7,500. In actuality, The Los Angeles Times estimates that, with the three games without pay for O'Neal, Shaq will lose about $714,286.

Laker teammates, and O'Neal himself, claim that throughout the night before the altercation, Miller and his Bull teammates had been playing rough with O'Neal. At one point, O'Neal warned Miller that if he continued the hard fouls, he would retaliate. O'Neal's teammate Kobe Bryant even went to the referees and asked for them to get control of the game, or it would get ugly fast. It certainly did, and O'Neal held true to his promise when Miller fouled hard again.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson says the three-game suspension was "pretty extreme" considering the fact that O'Neal did not seem to land any punches. However, he said O'Neal had accepted the suspension. Jackson also said that he did not condone what O'Neal did, and that O'Neal hurt the team with his actions. Jackson also added: "(But) the nature of a man is to defend himself." That is just what O'Neal did.

One can only ask, "what if Shaq landed that punch?" We could be looking at a whole different picture. O'Neal would have assuredly received many more games on his suspension, upwards of probably 20 games. Additionally, O'Neal possibly would have to face assault charges. And that career he wants to try after basketball, what was it, law enforcement? That would have been thrown out the window.

On Brad Miller's end, the poor guy would still be wondering what hit him. The United Center janitors would have had to mop him up off the court. A roundhouse punch by Shaq is like getting hit by a fastball on the head thrown by Randy Johnson -- from five feet away. Wouldn't have been a pretty sight. Miller would have still been eating apple sauce for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with a face that was met by the fist of a 300+ pounder named Shaq.

Basically, if you're an NBA player, do not hack Shaq too hard. If he gives you a warning not to do it again, for your sake, please do take heed. Mr. O'Neal is a large specimen who will have no trouble disposing of you in 2.3 seconds. Come to think of it, I'd want him on my law enforcement team any day.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.