Shaq O' Neal Under Fire for Bashing Houston Rockets NBA Player Yao Ming with Racial Slurs

Shaq O'Neal may be one of the most well liked figures in the National Basketball Association, but his recent verbal attacks on Houston Rockets 7 foot 6 inch big man Yao Ming from China are starting to raise troubling questions-is Shaq indeed racist?

Some feel Shaq's comments in his escalating war of words with Yao have crossed the line from trash talk to racial slurs.

Asian Week columnist Irwin Tang recently 'called out' O' Neal in public for several racially derogatory comments thrown in Yao's direction.

Tell Yao Ming, 'ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh,' O Neal said to a reporter recently in a mock Chinese accent.

When asked this summer how he would greet Yao Ming to the NBA, [who is a rookie this year from the Republic of China] Shaq said he would let his elbows do the talking.

'Street ball,' O'Neal commented on what would be awaiting Yao Ming in the National Basketball Association.

'Playing in the gym, shooting jumpers and all that...that's fine-But I am street.

It is about how to take a blow to the nose and make you think about what I am going to do next time down the court.'

You and Vlade Divac think alike. Did you fall down on every play when you played defense (for 30 years) too? Comeon? Just to exaggerate the contact? I bet you did.

You bet wrong, moron. In high school, in practice we ran a drill called "big balls" - you took three straight full-speed charging fouls. I would do two sets in a row. Took so many charging fouls in high school, I still have a touch of bursitis in my elbows. When I played, if someone took a hard shot for the team, it was an act of strength that really pumped up your team, not something to be belittled. Shows what you're about that you try to downplay the concept.

Shaq gets as much punishment as he dishes out. What would you do in a game a street ball with no officials? Cry foul?

No, just whale the crap out of someone if they insisted on pulling such moves. If they weren't gonna play within the game, then I would exert whatever force was necessary to counter their lack of respect for basic rules. If they played within the rules, I in turn played clean.

However, that really doesn't matter - Shaq plays in a realm populated with refs, and if you watch his game, he just simply pushes people out of the way who have position. Ten years ago, the refs would call that. The game of basketball is properly based on the concept that the defender has the right to hold his ground. Instead, the NBA has made that concept a joke with Shaq.

Geesh. Haters are everywhere.

Oh, so because I think that whenever a player has a special set of rules for them, that there is something wrong the league, that makes me a "hater?" That's rich. Call up Jesse Jackson, he and you pull the same nonsense to counter valid criticism.

LOL! Bunch of weak Laker-haters over here. HAHAHAHA!!

Kobe went to high school a mile away from where I lived. Saw him play a couple of times then. He has a poised game and a lot of class. You seem to think that critisim of Shaq somehow makes me a Laker hater. I rip into the actions of individuals, not teams, unless the team itself is a mess, in which case I figure the coach is at fault.

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