While everyone else in Boston was impressed by the "statue" stunt put on Thursday in Harvard Square by Shaquille O'Neal, the center's Celtic teammates weren't exactly floored by the event. Take Rajon Rondo for example.
Had he seen Shaq's stunt?
"No," Rondo said Friday.
Had he heard about it?
"No."
Did he know what was going on?
"Nope."
"I'm not surprised," said Rondo, who's already all too familiar with his teammate's bizarre brand of showmanship. "But no, I didn't hear about it."
He wasn't alone.
"I don't even know what you're talking about," said O'Neal's coach, Doc Rivers, when asked Friday about O'Neal's stunt.
Maybe the Celtics aren't yet ready for the Shaq spectacle. They've had a lot of great players here in Boston over the last few years, but none quite like Shaq in terms of generating interest away from the basketball court.
"He brings that," Rivers said. "He brings us something to talk about off the floor, probably as much as any player we've had. I'm good with that, as long as he brings that same interest on the floor. I'm hoping that he will."
This preseason has been a tremendous success for O'Neal — not only because of his 9.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per exhibition contest, but also in the heightened celebrity status he's gained in Boston in such a short time.
"That's good," Rivers said. "Shaq gets it in a lot of ways, you know. He loves his job, he plays the game, but he also understands that it's not so serious that you can't enjoy life and have fun with people. The people are the ones who pay to watch the games. I would say that he gets that as much as any star."
