Shaq happy to be in Boston

Associated Press

WALTHAM, Mass.

When Shaquille O’Neal was much, much younger and a good deal smaller, too, he chose as a role model one of the most successful big men in NBA history.

“When I came into the league, I wanted to compete with Bill Russell for titles,” O’Neal said Tuesday, with Russell’s 11 championship banners hanging above him at a news conference to mark his signing with the Boston Celtics. “That’s not going to happen, but I’d like to almost get half of what he got.”

With four titles and a Hall of Fame career already on his resume, newly christened “Big Shamrock” signed a two-year deal with the Celtics at veteran’s minimum, forgoing more lucrative offers to join the defending Eastern Conference champions for a run at another championship or two.

A crossover celebrity who has appeared in feature films and his own TV show, O’Neal joked about his new nickname, his fear that his kids will develop a Boston accent and trying to beat new teammate Glen “Big Baby” Davis in a chowder-eating contest.

But he was serious when he talked about his legacy.

“Do I have the same hunger? Yes. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here,” O’Neal said. “I don’t like wasting my time. I don’t like wasting anybody’s time. At the end of the day, when I close the book, it’s all about winning.”

The news conference to introduce O’Neal wasn’t the usual type for a backup, 38-year-old center who will be paid about $1.3 million a year. There were a dozen TV cameras, perhaps 50 reporters in all and a couple hundred beaming schoolchildren in the bleachers, taking a break from their basketball camp next door.

Also in the gym: Kevin Garnett, who promised O’Neal he would fly back from Hawaii to be there.

“To me this is a very exclusive event,” said O’Neal, who wore a gray pinstriped suit and a black bow tie. “It’s my last (introductory) press conference. I just wanted to be very, very sharp.”