The Orange County Register reports that The plan for Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal to start this title defense in better shape was officially scrapped Wednesday when he underwent surgery to alleviate pain in his left small toe.

O'Neal, 29, is scheduled to return to his home in Orlando today, where he has been instructed to use crutches for two weeks. At that point, he can start some cycling, but the projection is about six weeks before O'Neal can start running.

He will miss most of training camp, which begins on Sept. 29 in Honolulu, but should be ready for the Oct. 30 regular-season opener against Portland.

"The one thing is he is not expected to miss any (regular-season) games," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said.

Meanwhile, guard Derek Fisher (right foot) and forward Mark Madsen (left wrist) are recovering from July 3 surgeries and are not expected to be available for the start of the regular season.

The LA Daily News reports that Shaquille O'Neal will undergo surgery Wednesday to repair a deformed toe, a minor procedure that will lay up the Lakers' franchise player for up to six weeks.
The injury itself is not considered serious. But the consequences for O'Neal -- already prone to inactivity and weight gain in the offseason -- could be. O'Neal had just stepped up his conditioning regimen two weeks ago when the toe began to bother him.

Now he'll be off his feet for at least a few weeks and might not be able to practice when the two-time defending champions open training camp Sept. 29 in Honolulu.

The Lakers signed free-agent center Peter Cornell, whom they hope can become a servicable backup to Shaquille O'Neal. A 1998 graduate of Loyola Marymount, the 6-foot-11 Cornell played for the Memphis and San Diego teams in the ABA 2000 last year, averaging 5.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 15.3 minutes in 38 games.

The Lakers gave Cornell a nonguaranteed one-year deal and will evaluate him further in training camp. But with Mark Madsen (wrist surgery) expected to start the season on the injured list, Cornell has a good chance of making the opening-day roster.