Change of heart

After spending the day in practice and talking to Riley and Shaq, I no longer think this is one of those instances where Shaq is lashing out at authority.
Not that he hasn't done in the past, it's just that this time he sounded like a player who recognizes it's just as much about himself playing better as it is about anyone else.
Now, for Shaq to play better, that requires him to get the ball more often, and he still makes that perfectly clear. He is satisfied with Dwyane and Penny getting him the ball, but he wants guys like Ricky and Smush or Daequan (basically, any of the guys he never played with) to recognize that he's still a strong option, even if his numbers might not show as much so far this season.
As for Riles, he insists he was not targeting Shaq in any of his criticism. And his quick hook of Shaq was not meant to make a specific example out of Shaq. He would've done it with anyone who wasn't playing the specific defense he asked his guys to play before the game.
Dwyane also denied any of that stuff in the Chicago Tribune that claimed he was unhappy with the direction of the team, etc. He says he did want his guys to play harder because he didn't want the franchise to go back in the direction it was headed before he got here. But that was just a matter of a quick pep talk and leading by example. It was nothing as serious as the Chi-town paper made it sound.