So far, the excerpts from Shaquille O’Neal’s book (“Shaq Uncut: My Story“) that have gone public have been amusing and opinionated, if a bit loose with the truth.

But this latest bit about his exit from the Los Angeles Lakers could not have missed the mark more.

It comes from Mark Medina at the Los Angeles Times Lakers’ blog.

According to the book, Kupchak promised to grant Shaq a contract extension following the 2003-04 season and not to discuss their contract negotiations publicly. Once the 2003-04 season ended, however, O’Neal was disturbed by an apparent interview in which Kupchak revealed the Lakers’ plan to hold onto Bryant while keeping their options open with O’Neal.

“That was it. That was the end of me in a Lakers uniform. Mitch broke our agreement. How could I trust him again?” Shaq writes in the book. “For months, I kept waiting for Mitch to come to me and say, ‘Shaq, you’re getting older, we need some new players. Mr. Buss doesn’t want to pay you and Kobe doesn’t want you here.’ But that conversation never happened. So that was when I demanded a trade. I couldn’t trust Mitch anymore and it was clear Kobe was now the one with all the power.”

Shaq has to realize that owner Jerry Buss made the call to trade Shaq and Kupchak was the guy forced to execute the deal then take a lot of pubic heat from Lakers fans for it, right? Kupchak had about as much to do with this decision as he did with the decision to invade Iraq.

If Shaq wants to blame someone for his exit from the Lakers, he can blame himself for running up the court in a preseason game in Hawaii that season yelling “pay me” at Buss. That was the day the cord started to be cut. Kupchak may have said he would do all those things for Shaq, but the decision was ultimately taken out of his hands. Kupchak, ever the good soldier, would never throw his boss under the bus (so to speak) for that.

Not that the Lakers or Buss really had much of a choice. Kobe Bryant was not going to play with Shaq anymore, he would have left as a free agent if Shaq wasn’t traded. So the Lakers had to choose between a 32-year-old Shaq who had a questionable work ethic or a 26-year-old Kobe about to enter his prime. It wasn’t a popular move with fans — Shaq was better liked — but there was only one basketball decision to make.

But among all the people Shaq can blame for his departure from Los Angeles (to Miami, where he won another ring with Dwyane Wade), Kupchak is about the last guy he should.

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

Nearly 20 years after learning that he had tested HIV positive, and 20 years after his initial retirement from the Los Angeles Lakers, Magic Johnson has a major regret. He wishes he hadn’t retired from the Lakers directly after learning of his diagnosis. And, knowing what we and he know now about the virus, he’s probably right. Magic could have kept playing.

Two things are important to remember, 20 years on. First, to the uninitiated, testing positive for HIV back in 1991 seemed like a sure death sentence. I recall sports talk radio hosts, not shock jocks, hoping Magic would survive long enough to see his NBA friends play in the 1992 Olympics some 10 months later. Even though a goodly chunk of the public knew that, with proper attention, Magic wasn’t putting teammates or opponents at risk by playing NBA hoops with HIV, retirement seemed like the only possible step after a diagnosis like this.

Secondly, though he was by no means the transition demon that helped lead the Showtime Lakers to five championships in the 1980s, Magic was still playing brilliant basketball. He contributed a PER of over 25 during the Lakers’ 1990-91 season, a campaign that saw his team fall in the Finals to the Chicago Bulls. Johnson averaged over 19 points with 12.5 assists and seven rebounds a game, numbers made all the more impressive when you find out that the Lakers worked the third-slowest pace in the NBA that season. He wasn’t in his prime, but he was just a half of a half-step removed from his prime. And that’s Magic Johnson‘s prime that we’re talking about.

Here’s Magic’s take on his struggle, in talking to the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke, and his regretted decision:

If you’ll recall, Magic attempted a comeback during the 1992 preseason, after a star turn in the 1992 All-Star game and his time spent with that 1992 Team USA squad. When fears from other NBA players about contracting the disease became public, Johnson retired again. Magic fully came back midway through the 1995-96 season, and for a 36-year-old sixth man playing his first NBA basketball in five years, he was pretty fantastic — putting up a 21 PER while dropping nearly 15 a game with seven assists and six rebounds in just under 30 minutes of play. Chafing at his role amongst a younger Laker team, though, Johnson retired again. Pity, as Shaquille O’Neal(notes) and Kobe Bryant(notes) joined the Lakers a few months later.

That should have been the tail end of his career. Not only could Johnson still have played, and played brilliantly, but the physical toll it would have taken on his body would be no less severe than the one Johnson (a noted workout fiend, since his diagnosis) was putting on his body as it was. It would have helped educate the public at a much faster rate, and we would have been able to see the greatest point guard of all time go out as he should have.

Re-watch that interview, posted above. Johnson has spoken at length on camera about the events surrounding his HIV diagnosis. He remains optimistic and buoyant.

Regarding his retirement, though — have you ever seen Magic Johnson so mournful? So down?

Related: Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers

That’s all the news for today.

Jerry Buss is still the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers.

But he’s not the guy pulling the strings anymore, the power shift to son Jim Buss is pretty much complete.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the move to set up and hire former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown was the younger Buss’ call.

Brown, 41, became the front-runner because Jim Buss, the team’s executive vice president of player personnel, was impressed with his defense-minded style.

Former Houston Rockets coach Rick Adelman also was in the mix for the job and will remain a candidate to replace Phil Jackson if Brown turns down the deal from the Lakers.

Jim Buss, who had a reputation as a playboy in his younger days, runs the basketball side of the operations while his sister Jeanie (outgoing coach Phil Jackson’s girlfriend) runs the business side of the Lakers. Jerry Buss still has the last say on everything, but his role is greatly diminished. He did not even attend the Lakers victory parade last year, instead being spotted playing poker in a local card club. Still, it can be a little like Kremlinology to figure out who is running what inside the Lakers organization. This is a clear sign.

Jim Buss also made the call to hire Rudy Tomjanovich last time Phil Jackson stepped away from the organization. That ended poorly, with Tomjanovich leaving midway through the season and eventually Jackson having to be brought back to calm season ticket holders. The good news is that Brown has already coached in a high-pressure circus and should be better prepared for the Lakers gig in that sense.

This hiring is not sitting well with Lakers fans, who remember Brown’s stagnant offenses in Cleveland. Things were not as bad as they appeared there, that was a matter of the players on the roster around LeBron James to a degree. Still, the execution of the Xs and Os was an issue under Brown before.

But Jim Buss wants him, so he is the man.

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

There is the quick update of the day.