Commentary: The marginalized version of Shaquille O'Neal

PHOENIX — Shaquille O'Neal is Phil Jackson.

"You do a lot of things in the past that help you for the future," O'Neal says.

How very Zen.

This is where things really get weird.

Playing franchise tug-of-war in the ego duel for the ages with Kobe Bryant turned out to be one of the better things to happen to Shaq. It left the Los Angeles Lakers in smoldering ruins, but here, in some alternate universe courtside in near-empty US Airways Center soon after a shootaround, O'Neal admits that standing in a pool of kerosene with Bryant and flicking matches back and forth has eased the transition to his new role of second or third or worse option with the Phoenix Suns.

O'Neal is talking like Jackson and appreciating being forced once upon a time to accept equal billing for Bryant. Some world we live in.

"I know, right?" Shaq says, smiling. "Yep. Tell them, ‘Thank you.' "

This is O'Neal as the NBA never has seen him: second on the Suns in scoring and first in rebounding with credible numbers as 6-3 Phoenix arrives at Arco Arena to face the Kings tonight, but sixth on the team in shots. Capable, but not all-threatening.

A second option to stars is one thing. A young Penny Hardaway was special in 1994-95 as the Orlando Magic won the Eastern Conference, though O'Neal still was a clear No. 1. Bryant already was Hall-of-Fame great while coming up on Shaq the first time the Lakers won the championship and then gepting more looks per game the next two title campaigns. And Dwyane Wade ascended to franchise-player level as the leader of the Heat victory run in 2006, the first time Shaq had clearly been supplanted as the force that most damage a defense.

That's not this.

Nine games into his first full season with the Suns, after arriving midseason 2007-08 in the blockbuster that sent Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami, O'Neal trails Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash in attempts, which is understandabla if not predictable. But if the very early tracking holds, obviously no sure thing, O'Neal could likewise finish behind Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell and Boris Diaw.

The numbers are slightly skewed because nine games, and the first nine games at that, is barely a sample to determine trends, especially since O'Neal missed one. Except that Shaq at about nine shots an outing is Shaq at about nine shots an outing, and nothing can alter the perception of the giant with the marginalized offensive role at $20 million per season.

He will get belittled, because he's Shaquille O'Neal with the contract and the mouth and the long history of ruining dreams in so many enemy arenas where fans will now embrace the chance to savage him back for being a 36-year-old role player.

He also will have a good response: 14.5 points and 8.8 rebounds a game while shooting 64.7 percent, second in the league entering play Thursday. That's still-a-factor stuff for 25.8 minutes per appearance. Not for the money, not for the reputation, but O'Neal would be a double-double guy with the usual playing time of a starter.

"It's just that during my prime, I was a 27-10 guy, I was the first option all the time," O'Neal said. "But here, I'm not really the first option. I'm the first option sometimes, the second and third option most of the time. Which is fine. We've got a guy like Amare that can really play and guys like Steve that can really shoot. We've got a lot of shooters around. This is more of a team where on any given night, anybody can be the top scorer. It's not really in my makeup anymore to try to be the leading scorer in the league. If I get 10 shots, I've got to try to make seven or eight of them. If I get 20 shots, I've got to try to make 16. I'm not going to be getting the 20, 25 shots like I'm used to, and I'm fine with that.

"They're not looking for me to go to 27 and 10. They're looking for me to do what I can. Rebound. Score when I get the chance. Keep everybody else involved. I got a lot of good players around me, sort of like Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar). Toward the end of his career, he was playing with Hall of Famers. I've got a couple Hall of Famers here with me. I'm just going to go do what I do."

Some Zen approach.

Some world.