Shaq vs. Atari

Shaq is not happy about Bill Walton's criticism of him. Just when we were forgetting about how funny the big diesel can be, he gives us another classic quote.

"If this works out for Shaquille O'Neal, this will be a terrible indictment of him because he was doing absolutely nothing, saying he couldn't play at all, now he's saying he's going to win a championship?" Walton said on ESPN. "What's up with this? Six weeks ago Shaquille O'Neal was on the verge of the all-time consecutive foul-out rule and (Heat coach) Pat Riley saved him. This is going to be very, very tough for Shaq to work his way through."

Tuesday, O'Neal shot back.

"I would like a little respect from this man," he said. "I've done everything right. Done everything in a positive way. So I would like a little respect. I don't understand where his comments are coming from, nor do I really care. But him being disrespectful towards me is like me being disrespectful towards Bill Russell.

"See, Bill (Walton) only has one and a half, maybe two, championships. I have four. I've been there six times. And he criticized me for being injured. Uh, I didn't notice until I looked it up on the Internet, (but) he's only had two full seasons out of his whole career. So, you know, one thing I hate in life is a hypocrite. Hate 'em. Despise 'em. So, I would like a little respect when it comes to the dominant-big-man club. I'm in that club. I'm in, what, third or fourth place in that club?

"Bill Russell is the president and CEO. He'll be there. Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) is second. Me and Tim Duncan, we're third, because we have four each. The great Wilt Chamberlain, because of what he's done, is second. So everybody else is under me when it comes to pecking order. Him talking about me is like the owner of Atari talking about Bill Gates. Can't do it. Pecking order rules."