Shaq Done In by Soft Side

Shaquille O’Neal’s cold hand in Chicago, he said, betrayed his warm heart.

Four days after missing eight of 11 shots in the Lakers’ 17-point loss to the Chicago Bulls, O’Neal claimed he had gone easy on Eddy Curry because he could not bring himself to humiliate the 20-year-old, second-year player.

In the moments before the game, he said, O’Neal was introduced to Curry’s parents, presumably a big deal for everyone, as Curry was known as “Baby Shaq” at Thornwood High in South Holland, Ill. By now, the Shaq posters have been stripped from the walls of Curry’s bedroom, but maybe not.

Anyway, after shaking hands with the family, O’Neal said he softened.

“The mom was sitting there all nice and everything,” he said. “I couldn’t do it. For real. I couldn’t do it.”

In a related note, the Sacramento Kings are said to have dispatched a private jet to Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Vlade Divac’s hometown.

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The Lakers are well on their way to setting a team record for perimeter defense apathy, their opponents having made 39.5% of their three-point shots, a startling 48.1% on the recent trip through Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota and Milwaukee.

The previous worst at it were the 1995-96 Lakers, whose opponents made 36.7% of their three-pointers.

At the current rate, the Lakers will allow 462 three-pointers in 1,173 attempts. During the 1996-97 season, opponents were 479 for 1,379 from the arc, club records for makes and attempts against.

This season, then, opposing shooters will near the mark for makes with 200 fewer tries.

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O’Neal was called for two line violations Saturday night, both times stepping over the free-throw line before his attempt reached the area of the basket.

In the last two seasons, or since the league has started to watch, O’Neal has been caught four times, three of them this season.

“I think most of those are premeditated, especially when they’ve got a letter coming from the downstairs office,” O’Neal said of the referees. “Anything to try to stop me, but none of that’s going to work.”

O’Neal was 12 for 27 from the line in the final two games of the trip, both Laker wins.

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At his current rate, O’Neal probably would reach 20,000 points for his career Thursday night in Sacramento.

Sitting at 19,947, he’d need 53 points tonight against the Clippers in order to reach the mark in Los Angeles, before a mostly pro-Laker crowd, which begs the question: How soon could Sean Rooks’ parents be flown in?

Only 27 players in league history have scored 20,000 points, four of them -- Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -- at an earlier age. O’Neal turned 31 this month.

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Samaki Walker, recovering from a sprained right ankle, played 34 minutes on the four-game trip. Mark Madsen played 82, and Coach Phil Jackson seemed pleased enough with the earnest Madsen to continue the trend.

“The success of the team takes first priority,” Jackson said.

“If we’re successful with the group that’s playing, we’ll stay with what’s successful.”