The bad blood that developed between the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal and Utah Jazz center Greg Ostertag during last May's playoff series had all summer to simmer. Friday morning, it boiled over.

As the Lakers were leaving the Forum court from their shootaround and the Jazz players were arriving for theirs, O'Neal and Ostertag exchanged angry words. The 7-foot-1, 315-pound O'Neal then apparently slapped Ostertag, 7-2 and 280 pounds, hard enough to knock him to the floor.

O'Neal declined to comment on the confrontation Friday night, with Lakers spokesman John Black saying Shaq would have nothing to say until the league completes its investigation of the incident and decides on a possible penalty.

However, Black said, O'Neal had told Jim Hill of KCBS/Channel 2 earlier in the day that "words were spoken between them, and there was an incident. He said he was a lover, not a fighter, and that's all he was going to say about the issue."

Ostertag, who declined comment before the game, said afterward that he was "shocked. It was in the heat of the moment.

"I didn't expect what happened to come from him. But it's something I can't change now. . . . it's in the past."

A suspension for O'Neal might not be out of the question. O'Neal was already unavailable for Friday night's opener because of a strained abdominal muscle. He will be re-examined Monday, which also might be when the NBA office issues its decision on any disciplinary action.

Utah coach Jerry Sloan said he was "appalled" by the incident.

"It's unfortunate," he said. "We spent the whole day talking about that instead of worrying about playing basketball, and that's a sad commentary on the sport.

"I've been in this league almost all my life, and there's always some things going on, but I've never seen anything like that."

The strained relationship between the two players dates back to May's second-round playoff series, won by the Jazz in five games. During the course of that series, O'Neal -- who subsequently said he was playing that series with his knee at only "80-85 percent" strength -- complained that Ostertag was bragging about "stopping" him. Ostertag, meanwhile, groused that O'Neal was showing no respect for his ability.

"He's never said anything (complimentary), and he never will," Ostertag said.

Said Black of yesterday's incident: "I wasn't there, but the gist of it (concerned) the things they said about each other in the newspapers during and after the playoffs.

"It wasn't a one-sided issue. Both players were at fault to some extent. I'm not going to say Shaq was right or wrong, but he wasn't alone in it. But Shaq is sorry about his role in it."

A radio reporter who said he witnessed the altercation, Larry Burnett of KLAC/570, described O'Neal's action as an "open-handed slap."

"I don't think anybody (among the players) saw it," Laker forward Robert Horry said. "I was off the court."

O'Neal subsequently apologized to Lakers executive vice president Jerry West, General Manager Mitch Kupchak and Coach Del Harris.

"I know he felt bad about it," Harris said. "We talked, but whatever Shaquille and I said will stay between him and me."

Published 11/1/1997