The star-studded Staples Center crowd barely stirred Friday night when he donned his warmups and took his place on the bench.
His team had struggled without him, a settling presence on offense and a hustling one on defense.
We’re talking, of course, about Fred Hoiberg, who lost 10 pounds in two days and missed last game with the flu.
“They’re getting Shaq back,” Bulls coach Bill Cartwright said with a smile. “But we’re getting Freddie back.”
As for the other return, the much-hyped and much-anticipated season debut of Shaquille O’Neal, the sellout crowd 18,997 erupted when he checked in after a timeout with 5 minutes 43 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Asked how O’Neal looked after the morning shootaround, coach Phil Jackson cracked wise.
“He looked vibrant, fresh, healthy,” he said. “And big.”
Coaches were offering their best one-liners hours before tipoff, but things got serious once the movie stars had settled in their seats.
O’Neal’s absence has been no laughing matter for the three-time defending NBA champions who went an uncharacteristic 3-9 after the nine-time All-Star underwent surgery on his right big toe on Sept. 11. They were without their rudder, their stabilizing force in the middle and the most dominant player in the league.
Or, as Jackson put it: “We’re a team that thrives off that energy that he provides in the middle.”
O’Neal provided that energy from the moment he starred in a “Rocky” spoof that aired on the video scoreboard just before tipoff.
If the crowd cheered O’Neal punching slabs of beef, one can imagine what it did when O’Neal scored on his first shot, a hook over Donyell Marshall at the 3:50 mark.
By halftime, O’Neal had hit 6-of-8 shots for 13 points and the Lakers led 42-41. Cartwright used mostly zone against O’Neal, who also drew a technical foul on Tyson Chandler for taunting after Chandler goaltended one of O’Neal’s shots.
Meanwhile, the Bulls’ leading scorer, Jalen Rose, went scoreless in the first half, missing eight shots and committing four turnovers.
The game also took place against the backdrop of Cartwright facing his former coach for the third time, having swept last season’s two-game series. Jackson is one of many coaches from whom Cartwright watched and learned.
“You learn to be calm from him,” Cartwright said. “You learn to try to keep balanced. That’s the important thing, that there’s another day tomorrow. So if you don’t do well, you have the next day to continue to grow.
“Phil’s a great coach. [Criticism of him] is silliness. Not only has Shaq been out, but others have been, too. It would be tough for any team in the league to lose their star player and win.”
Jackson deflected any praise from Cartwright and offered some of his own.
“The key with coaching is you get your players to play hard for you,” Jackson said. “Whatever Bill’s doing, these kids play hard. And they’re learning in the process.”
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The outcome of the Bulls-Lakers game was unavailable until later editions due to its late start.
