Boston’s Shaquille O’Neal fined by NBA

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It appears Boston’s Shaquille O’Neal isn’t quite done with his Christmas spending.

The NBA fined the former Lakers star $35,000 on Monday for criticizing the referees following the Celtics’ Christmas Day loss to the Orlando Magic. Shaq expressed his dissatisfaction with how the officials handled the game, saying he and Orlando’s Dwight Howard were victimized by bad calls.

‘You pay all that money for good seats and you have two of the best guys in the country sitting on the bench,’ said O’Neal, referring to himself and Howard. ‘That’s what happens when you have control freaks out there.’’

O’Neal, who fouled out despite playing just 13 minutes, focused most of his criticism on referee Bob Delaney, who wore No. 26.

“I guess they came out to see Number 26, he was a great player out there,’ O’Neal said after the game. ‘The fans paid all that money to watch Number 26.’

-- Austin Knoblauch