O'Neal may be a wily old veteran now with his 32nd birthday just weeks away, but his first day at Celtics camp was still grueling for the seasoned pro. On Tuesday morning at Salve Regine University, O'Neal got his first taste of a Doc Rivers practice. The C's went for three solid hours, working hard on conditioning, and leaving the old vets sweaty and winded by the final whistle.
But O'Neal came here to win a ring, and the hard work is par for the course.
"If you want to win a championship, every day is important," the Celtic newcomer said Tuesday. "On a good team, building chemistry every day is important. You want to play good basketball every single day. This week is all about one thing — getting on one court, everybody being on one page and getting better."
O'Neal spent his first 14 seasons scattered between Portland, Indiana, Toronto and Miami. He was the starting center last season for a Heat team that won 47 games and earned a No. 5 seed in the East playoffs — where they were promptly bounced by the No. 4-seeded Celtics. O'Neal was eaten alive by the C's Kendrick Perkins.
Now the Heat have undertaken one of the greatest rebuilding projects in basketball history, and O'Neal is here in Boston, gunning for the guys he once fought alongside. Even for a veteran who's been everywhere and seen everything in the NBA, it's definitely a strange feeling.
"I hated their team for so long," O'Neal said of the Celtics. "But I always admired their team and what they represented. When they played, they'd suit up and walk out onto that court, and it was all about winning and playing together and playing hard. When you get an opportunity to play with so many great players, it means a lot to me. This could be the final run for my story, and I can't picture a better place to end my ride than with a championship-caliber organization, a great fan base and this group of great guys."
O'Neal arrives in New England determined, focused and ready to work. He worked on Tuesday with the Celtics' starting unit, donning a green Boston practice jersey side-by-side with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo.
But as one of the older, wiser personalities in the Celtics' locker room, he's expected to be more than just a contender for the starting center job. He's looked at as a team leader on a squad jam-packed with personalities. He's there to captain the group of Boston newcomers, many of them youngsters — Avery Bradley, Luke Harangody, Semih Erden and many more. It's on O'Neal to help his fellow Celtic newbies into the fold.
"Getting back into the flow of things with new teammates and a new system is definitely a challenge," O'Neal said. "But we have such a veteran team, and we talk every day now. We talk guys through it."
As for how he'll fit with the Celtics on the basketball court, that's still a work in progress, and O'Neal approaches it with an open mind.
"I'll take whatever role is given to me," he said. "I don't have any idea of what role I should be in. I'm new to this team, and this team already has a lot of great players. They went to the Finals last year without me, so I don't have a predetermined role. I'm sure that as training camp continues and we become a team, Doc is going to figure out our roles. And whatever role it is, that's what I'll take."
