[Basketball News]

INDIANAPOLIS, May 9 (AP) -- Jermaine O'Neal respects the Indiana Pacers too much to demand a trade, despite his frustrations over missing the playoffs for the first time in his seven seasons with the team.

O'Neal said in an interview Wednesday that he has spoken with Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh once since the season ended, but trade talk never entered the conversation. He said there is nothing to reports that he's pushing to be reunited with his old coach Isiah Thomas at the New York Knicks.

"That's just somebody that's putting out speculation,'' O'Neal told The Associated Press. "That didn't come from the Pacers, and that didn't come from me.''

Pacers’ O’Neal Says He Isn’t Demanding Trade

[Basketball News]

As a player, coach and executive, Larry Bird has never been one to take indirect shots.
Which is why franchise CEO Donnie Walsh was surprised to see a report in today's Indianapolis Star that suggested Bird had done just that. The newspaper reported the Pacers President took "an indirect shot at (Jermaine) O'Neal" with a comment in last month's press conference about players that didn't practice or play regularly.

"Did Larry Bird single out Jermaine O'Neal in his press conference?" said Walsh. "That pretty much is the biggest bogus issue I've seen printed in our newspaper. I watched that press conference and Bird never referred to Jermaine at all in his comments. He was talking in general terms about what kind of players he liked. To go from there and impute that when he said he liked players that practiced hard it somehow referred to Jermaine O'Neal was the creation of an issue that doesn't exist."

Though O'Neal practiced rarely during the second half of the season, he was nursing an injured knee. He was excused from practice in order to maximize his opportunities to play in games.

A different report has circulated suggesting O'Neal, in his year-end meeting with Bird and Walsh, requested a trade and designated New York as his preferred destination.

"Jermaine never came in and made any demands in our meeting, which involved myself, Bird and Jermaine," Walsh said. "It went pretty much the way he said it did and was quoted as to how it went. We basically talked about the team but there were no demands made and he was thoroughly respectful of the franchise, myself and Bird."

Walsh Clears Air On O'Neal Speculation

[Lefty Noob]

So O'Neal hasn't asked for a trade, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Bird and Walsh deal him anyway.

[ThePundit]

O'Neal is a guy the Knicks can actually use. He's the power forward they've lacked for years. He's a terrific player. But they better not give up any of their building blocks for him like David Lee.