Tuesday, June 12 Shaq: Play me, Dikembe: Play the game By Wayne Drehs ESPN.com PHILADELPHIA -- Shaquille O'Neal casually strolled into Monday's NBA Finals interview session with a black No. 34 cap cocked backwards, purple Lakers shorts hanging from his hips and a reiterated, simple message for Dikembe Mutombo: Play me like a man. Series Numbers SHAQ DEKE 34 ppg 17.3 ppg 17.3 rpg 13.7 rpg 4.7 pfpg 4 pfpg 4 bpg 2.7 bpg This was no joke. Just 15 hours after he accused Mutombo of flopping in Game 3 and thus causing him to foul out, O'Neal refused to back down from his comments, accusing Mutombo of all but cheating. Even though he colorized his comments in a more joking manner, the message was the same. "I said what I said and I meant what I said," O'Neal said. "OK? Good. Challenge me. Treat me like a game of checkers and play me. That's all I'm asking. Just play me. I'm allowed to pivot. I'm allowed to play strong. I'm allowed to be powerful. That's what I've been doing my whole career. "So just play. Treat me like Sega and play me." O'Neal fouled out of Sunday's 96-91 Lakers victory with 2:21 remaining, after he was double-teamed by Mutombo and Allen Iverson and rolled to the center of the lane, only to catch the jaw of Mutombo with his leading left elbow. Mutombo immediately stumbled back, holding his hand over his mouth. O'Neal, who was called for four offensive fouls in the game, called it great acting. Mutombo, the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year, said it was great defense. "It's stupid. It doesn't make sense," Mutombo said of O'Neal's criticism. "I think he's stupid to say that. Based on what? Trying to relate that to what? Fouling out? What -- am I the referee? It's just he hasn't had so many people who can guard him like I have been guarding him. That's the only way I can answer. This is the Finals. This is the NBA championship." Shaquille O'Neal, left, has been taking punishment and dishing it out against Dikembe Mutombo. Prior to Sunday, O'Neal hadn't fouled out since a March 11 loss to Seattle, a game in which he scored 29 points to go with seven rebounds. Throughout this series, the Sixers have guarded O'Neal a variety of ways, including single-coverage, weak-side help, and drop-down help from the perimeter guard. The double teams have allowed O'Neal, who's leading the Lakers with 5.7 assists per game in the Finals, to find open teammates. But the physical nature of Philadelphia's play has proved somewhat frustrating. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said Monday that he believes O'Neal gets fouled on just about every possession, though he understands that it's the only way to keep the game fair. Jackson has been on both sides of the O'Neal debate, having to put together the three-headed monster of Luc Longley, Will Perdue and Bill Wennington when he was coach of the Bulls to combat O'Neal, then of the Magic. "His size and his abilities, footwork and his ability to move a defender are perhaps the most effective that we've ever seen in this game, which really tilts the scale," Jackson said. "As a consequence, Shaquille has to be played, or the balance is not quite fair for Shaquille. Last night, the motto of that game was: 'OK, we're gonna let you guys play. We're not letting you play, Shaq, we'll let everybody else play.' "I often tell him it's comparable to Michael [Jordan]. Michael would get fouled on every play and still have to play through it and just clear himself for shots instead and would rise to that occasion." O'Neal, who is averaging 34 points and 17.3 rebounds in three games against the Sixers, agrees that he plays to a double standard. "When I was coming up, my father always taught me (to) take the ball up strong and the only way somebody will stop you is to block your shot or foul you," O'Neal said. "My shot doesn't get blocked that much. But it really doesn't matter. I just wish the things I get done to me I could do back. Foul onto others as they foul onto me." O'Neal has taken his hacks at Mutombo, who has suffered numerous bumps, bruises and cuts through the first three games of the series. A vicious right elbow to the lip in Game 2 forced Mutombo to get three stitches after the game and kept Mutombo from speaking. He still had a fat lip on Monday, three days since the incident. Thus it's hard for Mutombo to not laugh when he hears about the monstrous O'Neal complaining of physical play. “ Do I come to the press conference and complain about the bleeding, the stitches and the swelling that I go through everyday? I don't complain about it. I just go play the game. For (O'Neal) to complain, like I said, it's stupid. ” — Dikembe Mutombo, Sixers center "Do I come to the press conference and complain about the bleeding, the stitches and the swelling that I go through everyday?" Mutombo said. "I don't complain about it. I just go play the game. For him to complain, like I said, it's stupid." Sixers center Todd MacCulloch, Mutombo's backup, has also seen time in the Finals against O'Neal and doesn't buy talk that it's O'Neal who's the victim. "Shaq's entitled to his opinion. I've seen guys try and take flops on Shaquille -- but I've never seen Deke try and flop on anybody," MacCulloch said. "When Shaquille O'Neal makes those moves, and he hits you, it's not a flop, you're just getting knocked backward. And if the referee feels that Shaq's initiating too much of that contact, then he's going to call it." O'Neal, listed at 7-foot-1 and 330 pounds as the hands-down largest player in the league, said it's been a challenge for him to acclimate his game to his physical size. By just stepping the wrong way, he can often knock guys over and get charged with a foul, whether it was intended or not. "I'm the only player in the league that has to change my game day in and day out," O'Neal said. "And that's why I enjoy punishing people, especially people that think they can play me one-on-one because I can't even stop myself one-on-one." When he played for the Sonics in 1999-2000, Lakers forward Horace Grant often guarded O'Neal and called it one of the most frustrating experiences in basketball. "He just punishes people," Grant said. "Three-hundred and forty pounds, strength like that, man. One quarter is OK. But by the third and fourth quarter, you start to feel it. You really do. He's just such a big guy. There's that physical strength. I'm just glad that I'm on his team." Mutombo said earlier in the series that he and O'Neal were friends. But on Monday, he admitted that this recent strife may put a strain on that friendship, especially while the series continues and the elbows and words continue to fly. "I think we respect each other still somehow," Mutombo said. "I'd be surprised if he loses respect for me. But if he does, I'd like him to show me that. If he's trying to play this psychological game against me, it doesn't work. I've had a lot of people try that and it doesn't work." Whatever game O'Neal was playing Monday, he made a point to wrap up his 10-minute press conference by singing the same two words that began it: "Plaaayyyyy Meeeeeee!" Mutombo believes he already has. Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

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