Stories from a trip to Media Day for the Phoenix Suns.
NBA players have occasionally had a tense relationship with long-time league journalist Sam Smith. Fellow NBA scribes have questioned Smith's tactics, and we know how Smith feels about bloggers. Or maybe that should be,"felt" about bloggers, since he pretty much is one himself now.
The reason I mention all of this is because Sam decided to ask Shaquille O'Neal about his weight heading into the season, and as you might imagine, Shaq was not appreciative of the question. In fact, he responded to Sam by name as he wondered why he seemingly asks the same questions every season.
If there's one thing we know about Shaq, it's that he's a little sensitive when it comes to the topic of him missing games or possibly being out of shape. I'm not sure why Sam decided to pursue the topic this season, especially since Shaq looked to be in amazing physical condition. Dude was lean, had his jersey tucked into his shorts with no sign of any gut whatsoever, and appeared to be pretty chiseled in the upper body. With Shaq looking the way he did, the question seemed to be completely off base, and you can't fault Shaq for being a bit annoyed by it given the circumstances.
