Kobe Bryant was furious with the Lakers after reading that a "team source" intimated in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times that he was the reason Shaquille O'Neal was traded.

The Lakers' owner, Jerry Buss, "called a meeting with me after he spoke with Jim Gray [of ESPN] to talk with him about Shaq's future in the middle of the 2004 season," Bryant said yesterday.

"He met with me at the Four Seasons Hotel here across from Fashion Island, which is now the Island Hotel," Bryant said. "I went up to his penthouse suite. [Buss] looks me dead in the face and says: 'Kobe, I am not going to re-sign Shaq. I am not about to pay him $30 million a year or $80 million over three years. No way in hell. I feel like he's getting older. His body is breaking down, and I don't want to pay that money to him when I can get value for him right now rather than wait. This is my decision. It's independent of you. My mind is made up. It doesn't matter to me what you do in free agency because I do not want to pay [Shaq], period.' "

"Dr. Buss said that," Bryant said. "And I haven't said anything for years because I've always felt like folks were just looking to create controversy. Now I know. I realize what extent [the Lakers] will go to, to cover themselves."

"I believe Kobe 100 percent," said O'Neal, reached yesterday while in Los Angeles on business. "Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind Kobe is telling the truth. I believe him a thousand percent. I would have respected Dr. Buss more as a man if he would have told me that himself, because I know he said it. But he didn't [tell me]. He never said a damn word to me."

Though Shaquille O'Neal has been given no assurances and Pat Riley remains noncommittal publicly, O'Neal said he feels ''sure'' Riley will coach next season and that ''it's important'' Riley do so.

O'Neal said Riley told players after the season that he ''will be here for the next five years'' -- though Riley, 62, didn't specify whether it would be as coach, president or both titles.

Shaq also said none of the conference finalists is better than the Heat. ``Cleveland was in the right bracket. This year was a bad-luck year.''

Dwyane Wade of the Heat and his wife, Siohvaughn, became parents Tuesday for the second time.

The couple's second son, Zion Malachi Airamis Wade, was born at 9:45 p.m. at a Chicago hospital, weighing 6 pounds, 11 ounces. He joins older brother Zaire, 5, in the Wade household.

"We are very excited and blessed to welcome our second child into the world," Wade said on his Web site. "We are really happy and everyone is healthy."

With Sacramento determined to dump Ron Artest, Miami, which has nothing to lose and Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade to keep him in line, is interested.

With the Miami Heat moving swiftly into an offseason potentially full of changes, Heat coach Pat Riley said he expects the futures of both Alonzo Mourning and Gary Payton to be decided before the June 28 NBA Draft.

Both are weighing up retirement.

Riley, who begins a vacation on the West Coast next week, said he plans to meet with Mourning, 37, Payton, 38, and Eddie Jones, 35, when he returns to Miami to prepare for the draft. The Heat holds the No. 20 pick in what is regarded as one of the deepest drafts in recent years.

What the Heat does with that pick -- options might include keeping it or packaging it in a trade -- will hinge at least in part on Mourning's decision.

''Obviously, I think Zo has a lot left, but [his decision] could change things there,'' Riley said. ``But we know where we need help and that's where we're going to attack in the draft. That's where we're going to attack in trades and free agency.''

Stan Van Gundy, according to Ira Winderman, has emerged as the leading candidate to become the next coach of the Pacers and could wind up filling that position by midweek.

The former Heat coach spent part of the weekend in Indianapolis with his wife, Kim.

The Pacers have taken a break from their interview process, a process that has included interviews with assistant coaches Chuck Person and Johnny Davis, as well as Lakers assistant and former Heat guard Brian Shaw.

Heat guard Dwyane Wade is recovering from surgery this week on his left shoulder and knee, operations he opted to have the same day to speed up his return to the court.

"I decided to have both surgeries in one day so I could get the full rehab process started and return to the court as soon as possible," Wade said Friday in a statement. "I am feeling good, keeping my spirits up and looking forward to wearing a Heat uniform again soon."

Heat guard Dwyane Wade underwent successful surgical procedures Tuesday to repair his dislocated left shoulder and the patellar tendon in his left knee.

The recovery is expected to last four to six months and could keep Wade out through the first few weeks of the 2007-08 season.

The Miami HEAT announced today that All-Star guard Dwyane Wade underwent a pair of successful surgeries this morning at Baptist Doctors Hospital of Miami.

The procedures entailed a repair of his dislocated left shoulder and a debridement and repair of his left patella tendon.

Both surgeries were performed by HEAT team physician Dr. Harlan Selesnick. No timetable has been set on Wade?s return to action.

Heat coach Pat Riley said Thursday he expects Dwyane Wade to undergo surgery next week and is not certain the guard will be available by the start of next season.

"We know that he's going to have surgery, and we know it's going to be soon," Riley said. "I do think something's going to happen surgically next week."

Riley said he did not know if Wade would first address the tendinitis in his left knee or his dislocated left shoulder.

"I would say the most pressing is his knee, because he has spent 2? months rehabilitating the shoulder," Riley said.

"Both things will have to be addressed, one way or another."