Rumors continue to abate that Shaquille O’Neal will be called to testify in the Kobe Bryant rape trial- if there is one, that is. But it’s little-known fact that this isn’t the first time Shaq has participated in a sex-crimes case involving a fellow basketball player.
In 1997 Courtney James, who was the starting power forward on that year’s University of Minnesota Final Four team, was arrested and charged with smacking his girlfriend with a phone book. During his trial it was alleged that James’ girlfriend had slept with six different NBA players, one of whom was O’Neal, and the fight in which he struck her had been precipitated by a phone message from Shaq himself. The message? “Yo it’s Shaq, I’ll call you back.”
One of the local radio stations got a hold of the recording and turned it into a rap remix; James was eventually convicted. Don’t expect either of those things to happen in Kobe’s case.
Posted by Stephen Silver at August 6, 2004 04:22 PM