Talk about the boy who cried wolf.

	Shaquille O'Neal soars high above the Kings, and the recent controversies he's created.

Because that's what Shaquille O'Neal, at his heart and soul, really is: a boy. Granted, he is a boy who is closing in on 400 pounds, but he is, nonetheless, a boy.

Given his size, though, and that he likes everything in his world to be BIG, it's more like Shaq not only was crying wolf, but he was crying fox, hound, pig, goat, chimpanzee, sea otter, orca and just about every other creature on that Arc thing I keep hearing about.

And I'm not buying it.

Because when all is said and done, Shaquille O'Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers are going to be there in June, fending off Jim Gray questions about some controversy or other, while at the same time hoisting their third championship trophy.

The only way that is not going to happen is if Shaq gets hurt and cries "Ouch" instead of wolf, fox, hound, pig, goat, chimpanzee, well, you get the idea.

Listen, when you are as good as Shaq, when you are as dominant as Shaq, when you are as big as Shaq and have no peers, you have to do something to make the game, to make your vocation, more interesting.

Remember when Larry Bird played an entire summer with only his left hand, then came into the season playing left-handed?

Remember how Michael Jordan would have to invent things to get himself motivated? Remember LaBradford Smith? Remember those foul shots with his eyes closed?

Well, this is Shaq's version of that.

The latest is that Shaq is upset with Phil Jackson because Shaq took some time off to be present at the birth of his new baby. Phil gave him one day, he took two days, Phil fined him $10,000, Shaq told him to shove the fine somewhere in the vicinity of Phil's home in Montana.

Just prior to that, Phil was a little upset that Shaq had been missing free throws (what's new?), Shaq says he will hit them when it matters, Phil says he needs to work harder, Shaq says he is not appreciated after winning Phil two more championships and that Phil can shove his comments somewhere in the vicinity of where Osama bin Laden is hiding.

Just prior to that, which would make it summertime, Shaq is upset that agent Leonard Armato has made him too "corporate," even though Armato has earned Shaq untold millions in endorsements, so Shaq tells Armato to go shove their relationship somewhere in the vicinity of where most agents seemingly live and procreate.

And just prior to that, which would make it last season, Shaq hates Kobe and doesn't tell Kobe to shove anything, Shaq just shoves Kobe himself.

Now I'm no mathematician, but I do remember learning in my trigonometry or biotechnology class something about the common denominator. And if you asked me to venture a guess on the common denominator in these scenarios, it's that Shaq is unhappy.

Although, I don't really think he all that unhappy.

After all, he has a contract that eventually will make him in excess of $200 million, and that does not even count the untold millions that the now-fired Armato got him. He has two championships, with many more to come. He has several kiddies to play with and show off his Superman paraphanalia to. Basically, he has the life.

And at this point, at least professionally, work does not become interesting until after the first 70 games or so are played.

So what else is there to keep his interest than a little controversy to break up the boredom.

Even this week, through -- I suspect -- no fault of his own, Shaq is embroiled in a little mischief.

First, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who always does what he can to throw kidney punches at Phil, accused Shaq of stepping over the line when he takes his free throws.

"When you have dominant players, you want to somehow or other deflate them," Jackson said afterward, going on to shoot back at Cuban. "I've always felt that you want players to play the best they can, and you match that ability with your own players, rather than trying to diminish their abilities. And that's the one thing I don't like about it. Because Shaq is now shooting his free throws at a 60-percent clip ... and to try and limit what he does now that he's finally gotten effective with it is kind of interesting."

This is the same Phil that was recently bashing Shaq's free throw shooting, now defending him. I think they call that revisionist history somewhere in the world. But that's another story.

After Cuban's attempt at distraction, the league came along and fined Shaq, along with several other players, $5,000 for wearing his shorts too baggy. Now, the fact that Shaq is somewhere between 350 pounds and a Battle Cruiser means that the size of his shorts must have been somewhere in the range of the AIDS quilt is something I don't even want to get into.

But after the fine was issued, Shaq claimed, "I guess this is (rhymes with stuck) with Shaquille week."

Poor little old Shaq, everybody keeps picking on him. He better go get a band-aid for his boo boo.

Then, right after he said that, he pulled his shorts up to around his neck and claimed he was going to start wearing John Stockton-size shorts, otherwise known as Daisy Dukes.

I wish he hadn't done that, though, and not just because the vision of it is enough to send most of us into therapy.

But because with his shorts so close to his mouth, I had a hard time hearing when he was crying wolf, fox, hound, pig.....

Frank Hughes covers the NBA for the Tacoma (Wash.) News-Tribune. He is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.