Fortson fires back at Shaq

FRANK HUGHES; The News Tribune
Last updated: January 8th, 2005 09:04 AM

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If the Seattle SuperSonics thought Miami Heat center Shaquille O’Neal was a load Monday in Miami, wait until O’Neal gets word of Sonics forward Danny Fortson’s comments about Sunday’s rematch in Seattle.

Fortson, who guarded O’Neal for most of Seattle’s 98-96 victory that snapped the Heat’s franchise-record, 14-game win streak, was responding to a question about O’Neal’s complaints about Fortson flopping in the game.

Upon hearing that, Fortson issued the 7-foot-1, who-knows-how-many-pounds O’Neal a challenge.

“You know something? That is a cop-out,” Fortson said. “Write this down. If he can’t go out and bang, if he can’t get two or three feet underneath the basket, he is ineffective.

“My goal is to keep him out of the paint. That is not an easy task to do. That is easier said than done. But I am going to try to keep him out of the paint and see how good he is.

“I challenge him to take a jump hook. Take a couple jump shots. I bet you he can’t do that. Of course he is going to complain about flopping because he has to be inside to score buckets. If he doesn’t get inside to score buckets, he might as well give the ball to Dwyane Wade and move back.”

In Monday’s game at Miami, starting center Jerome James picked up three quick fouls, and Sonics coach Nate McMillan inserted Fortson.

Fortson drew a foul from O’Neal while he was going to the basket, completing a conventional three-point play. Then, 69 seconds later, Fortson drew a charging call on O’Neal by flopping, sending O’Neal to the bench for the rest of the first quarter. O’Neal played only six minutes in the quarter.

It prompted O’Neal to complain after the game, “Bill Russell and Bill Walton would be ashamed to watch this game, big men flopping around like that.”

“I don’t even know what he is talking about,” Fortson responded. “He is the big man. He’s the one that wants to go out there and dunk on everybody, like he’s been doing. I’m not going to feel sorry for him.

“He is the biggest man in the world and he’s worried about guys flopping? That is kind of crazy, you know.

“One flop? I only got one flop? Besides that, who wouldn’t flop against Shaq? But for the most part, Bill Walton and Bill Laimbeer and Charles Barkley would be proud of how I went head-to-head with him. Especially Charles Barkley. You know what I’m saying? For the most part I was in there battling with him.”

O’Neal scored 25 points and had 14 rebounds and seven blocks, but Fortson did a reasonably good job on the player considered to be the most dominant force in the league.

Fortson had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the game, but that was not why his teammates called it his best effort of the season.

In the locker room after the game, they pointed out that Fortson, who leads the NBA in technical fouls, kept his poise without getting into personal arguments with O’Neal or bickering with the officials.

“The whole thing about it with me is it’s a spiritual warfare with me,” Fortson said. “It’s about focusing and doing what God wants me to do. I am going to play hard.

“It ain’t going to be no different on Sunday. We are going to do the same thing, and it is going to be the same results. We are going to win the game if we play hard. I am going to try to stay focused like I was in Miami. It’s no easy thing. It’s a work in progress for me. But if I stay focused, it’s like David and Goliath, I win again.”