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 Wednesday, May 10
Lone MVP dissenter irritates, amuses Lakers
 
 Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- Glen Rice believed Lakers teammate Shaquille O'Neal was a shoo-in to become the first unanimous winner of balloting for the MVP award.

Shaquille O'Neal
O'Neal

One of the 121 voters, Fred Hickman of CNN/SI, didn't agree, instead picking Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson.

Rice was offended.

"Yeah, it matters to us," he said of the lone vote not cast for O'Neal. "To us, it was no contest. I don't know where that one vote slipped away. We felt all along Shaq would be the MVP. It was just a matter of making it official. All along, it was a runaway."

Lakers owner Jerry Buss tried to be diplomatic, but it was obvious he wasn't pleased that O'Neal didn't get all the votes.

"It's a free country and everybody should vote their conscience," Buss said. He then repeated and emphasized the phrase, "Vote their conscience."

Lakers vice president Jerry West noted that the vote was the most one-sided ever, smiled and added, "God, I feel sorry for the guy who didn't vote for him."

Most of the Lakers, including O'Neal, seemed more amused than angry over the one missed vote. O'Neal thanked all the voters, even the one who cast his ballot for Iverson.

"Thank you, too. I appreciate it," O'Neal said with what appeared to be a genuine smile.

Lakers forward Robert Horry joked: "I heard some guy at CNN didn't vote for him. Did he ever play? If he played he probably was a guard. Anyway, that's the great thing about this country, people can have different opinions."

Guard Ron Harper didn't think it mattered that O'Neal wasn't an unanimous choice.

"Who cares? MVP is MVP," Harper said. "Shaq won huge. I think some guy is always going to vote for his guy. It's OK just so long as Shaq gets what he deserves.

"And he deserves the MVP. I think I know; I played with one (Michael Jordan at Chicago) for a few years."

Phil Jackson, the Bulls' coach while Jordan was winning the MVP award four times in the 1990s, said O'Neal's selection was "no surprise to anyone."

"Those things (the one missed vote) happen. There's always going to be a dissenter out there even in a landslide, and we consider this a landslide," the Lakers' coach said.

One avid Lakers fan wasn't a bit offended by the vote for Iverson.

John Lazerus, wearing a gold Los Angeles jersey with O'Neal's No. 34, spent more than two hours hanging over the wall next to the players' parking lot at their El Segundo practice facility, waiting to wave to O'Neal and shout congratulations.

"He deserves it," said Lazerus, a 20-year-old college student. "But I think Iverson should get some votes, because he led the 76ers to the second round now, and I really don't think they would be where they are without him. I believe the Lakers would still be in the second round even if they didn't have Shaq."

Hickman explained his decision in much the same way, saying: "You take Shaq away from the Lakers and you've still got a great team. You take Iverson away from the 76ers and they are the Clippers, the Hawks. They are no longer contenders."

 


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