LOS ANGELES -- Shaquille O'Neal, sidelined by a sore right foot, believes he will be rejuvenated when he returns to the Los Angeles Lakers' lineup.
|  | | Shaquille O'Neal thinks the time off to rest his ailing foot will do him good. |
"This rest will do me good, mentally and physically," he said. "Then I can come back with a vengeance, come back with the mean face on.
"I'm still upset about how the first half went, but I'm willing to let bygones be bygones -- just start all over in the second half, because the second half is what really counts," O'Neal said in the locker room Friday night before his teammates played Charlotte.
The Lakers' center already had missed three games because of a strained right arch, and is expected to sit out two more contests next week before the All-Star break.
He said he doesn't know whether he will be able to play in the All-Star Game on Feb. 11, adding, "But I'll go."
O'Neal, who was the co-MVP of last year's All-Star Game and went
on to win the regular-season and Finals MVP awards, is scheduled to
have his injured foot checked again on Wednesday.
"The arch was strained very bad. I've got bruises around the fifth metatarsal bone, and the foot is just in bad shape," O'Neal said. "They were talking like if it was a stress fracture, it would be real bad. So I'm glad it wasn't broken or wasn't a stress fracture.
"I'm just going to take these days off with no jumping and no running -- just getting some sweat in, some massages."
O'Neal, 28, said that he could use the time off.
"I'm much older now and I don't heal like I used to heal. I can't perform without my wheels," he said. "My car don't look good unless the rims are shining. Right now my rims ain't shining."
Having a tender left Achilles tendon this season probably led to
the arch problem in his right foot.
"My left Achilles was messed up, so I was doing everything on my right foot. So that's probably was it was," he said.
Coach Phil Jackson said the Lakers considered having O'Neal go on the injured list, "But he didn't want to."
That would have meant the 7-foot-1 center, who is averaging 26.9 points and 12.9 rebounds this season, would have to miss the first three games after the All-Star break in addition to the two contests he's expected sit out next week.
The defending NBA champion Lakers are 29-16, one more loss than they had all last season, after beating the Hornets on Friday night.
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