It feels like the Lakers have Friday's two acts switched around, with tonight's anticlimatic game against the Wolves following the emotional unveiling late this afternoon of a Shaquille O'Neal statue outside Staples Center.
It's the fifth such one commemorating a Laker -- if you count legendary play-by-play guy Chick Hearn -- and the 1,500-pound hanging statue depicting Shaq hanging two-fisted from the rim goes out on the plaza alongside statues of hockey's Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robitaille as well as boxer Oscar De La Hoya.
I'll have to admit, it made me feel old.
I remember watching O'Neal announce on a San Antonio military base in 1992 that he was turning pro and today watched the Laker family honor him seven years after he played his last game.
Why such a site?: His father was a military man.
I was covering the Wolves my first time around on their beat and the team was playing in Dallas while the 1992 Final Four was being held at the Metrodome. The Wolves were headed toward the NBA's worst record that season, and thus O'Neal's decision to leave LSU was big news back home.
I remember flying to San Antonio for the afternoon announcement and flying back to Dallas for that night's Wolves-Mavs game.
What I remember more is how O'Neal wrinkled up like face, like he smelled some bad cheese, when I asked him what he thought about the prospect of playing in Minnesota.
