Mike Lupica  of the Daily News tells us Shaquille O'Neal got three games from the league yesterday for swinging at Miller the way he did and starting a real nice brawl. Three games and a fine of $15,000. One year ago exactly, Marcus Camby came running at Danny Ferry of the Spurs after Ferry got Camby with a cheap-shot elbow, trying to throw a wild punch of his own. Camby missed Ferry, knocked down his coach, Jeff Van Gundy, instead, opening up a big cut in Van Gundy's forehead. Camby got five games and a $25,000 fine.

You can obviously see that Shaq would have been in real trouble with David Stern and Stu Jackson, who has replaced Rod Thorn as Stern's top cop, if he were a Knick.

Or maybe Shaq would have been in real trouble with Stern if he'd embarrassed the league in Madison Square Garden on Martin Luther King Day, the way Marcus Camby did. Stern got into the car the next morning and there were Camby and Van Gundy all over the front pages of the newspaper. The front page headline in the Daily News read, "Butt and Jeff." By the time Stern got to Manhattan, the three games that Camby was going to get was five.

Added the New York Times why does Camby get five games and Sprewell 68 for attempting to choke his coach, the league responded:  "In O'Neal's case he committed his violation in the heat of battle. Camby and Sprewell had time to cool off, and then acted."