After news that his biography, Shaq Uncut, would be hitting the shelves soon many parts of the book have already been leaked. Apparently in the book O’Neal discusses his relationship with Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Pat Riley, and a variety of other individuals he encountered during his tenure in the league.
One of the main stories that has surfaced from O’Neal’s book were comments he made regarding Bryant. O’Neal reportedly threatened to kill Bryant during their time with Los Angeles.
“If you ever say anything like what you said to Jim Gray ever again, I will kill you,” O’Neal wrote that he told Bryant, after Bryant disparaged O’Neal’s work ethic in a media interview to controversial reporter Jim Gray.
On Thursday O’Neal joined Stephen A. Smith on ESPN and mentioned the statement that has been drawing a lot of fire.
“That happened back then,” said O’Neal. “It’s well-documented. It’s like an Ebonics statement. I’ve wanted to kill you many times, Stephen A., but we’re still cool.”
It seems that O’Neal has been spending a fair amount of time trying to clarify different statements that he made in his book. There is no doubt that O’Neal loves the limelight, and that with his biography he has managed to keep the spotlight on him despite his retirement and the NBA lockout.