Shaquille O'Neal, the towering presence who guided the Lakers to three consecutive championships, has come west again to an altogether improbable destination -- the run-and-gunning Phoenix Suns.
On Wednesday Phoenix completed a trade with the Miami Heat to land O'Neal, who turns 36 next month and is averaging a career-low 14.2 points this season. The Suns sent disgruntled four-time All-Star forward Shawn Marion, 29, and backup point guard Marcus Banks to the Heat for O'Neal.
It appears to be a direct counter move by the Suns to the Lakers' trade last week for center-forward Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies.
A rivalry has developed between the Suns and Lakers -- who were eliminated by Phoenix the last two seasons in the playoffs -- and could be more intense with O'Neal now standing firmly in the path of the Lakers again becoming title challengers.
"I don't know if [the Gasol trade] precipitated the move or . . . it's just part of the plan of trying to help themselves out," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said of the O'Neal deal. "The reality is, it changed the complexities of our division. This may be another one of those situations where people are going to have to scramble a little a bit [to keep up]."
O'Neal underwent a physical in Phoenix on Wednesday. He is scheduled to address the media this morning and talked with Suns stars Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire before the deal went through.
O'Neal has missed 15 games this season because of various injuries -- the latest are hip and quad ailments -- and is an unlikely match for the Suns. Their frenetic play, in which Coach Mike D'Antoni advocates taking quick shots, directly contrasts with O'Neal's often plodding and punishing style.
"Any team he's on is going to be better," said Lakers forward Lamar Odom, who was traded to Los Angeles in 2004 as part of the deal that originally sent O'Neal to the Heat. "It kind of surprised me, because I thought [Phoenix] liked their style of play. Now they can play a little more traditional style of basketball."
O'Neal will apparently have to accept a lesser role and be willing to rebound and play defense against the likes of the Lakers' Gasol and Andrew Bynum, when he returns from injury, as well as the San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan.
Despite the Suns' fast-paced and popular style of play since Nash rejoined the team in 2004-05, Phoenix has not reached the NBA Finals during D'Antoni's tenure.
