Shaquille O'Neal has spent his entire preseason in Boston insisting that he doesn't care whether he starts at center for the Celtics or comes off the bench.
With Shaq and Jermaine O'Neal each vying for a shot at the starting role this season, it's been a hot topic around Celtics circles all month. Both players are getting tired of answering the question — so at practice this week, Shaq tried a new way of explaining his stance.
He tried the businessman analogy.
"It doesn't matter," Shaq said of the Celtics' starting job. "I could care less. I'm a consultant for this corporation, so I'll do whatever they need me to do. If they need me to come in and run a couple board meetings, I'll do that; if they need me to come off the bench, I'll do that. It doesn't matter. I've been there and done that."
Shaq has run 1,161 "board meetings," or starts, in his NBA career. Only nine times has he come off the bench — never more than three in a single season, and zero over the last three seasons he's spent split between Miami, Phoenix and Cleveland.
Everywhere he's gone, Shaq has expected to start at center. But not anymore.
In Boston, he's a consultant.
NESN.com will showcase one Moment of Shaq every day until the Celtics open the season against the Heat on Oct. 26 at the TD Garden.
Wednesday, Oct. 21: Shaq rides a vehicle not built for his size.
