Shaquille O'Neal has his championships and his MVP awards, but he has been humbled by failure, by age and by injury and, with his career at a crossroads, he is dedicating himself to reversing those trends.

The process began Thursday afternoon, when O'Neal hired a personal trainer, following through on a promise he made to Lakers management last week.

Corey Gilday, a Portland, Ore.-based certified fitness trainer and nutritionist, will move to Orlando, Fla., this weekend and Monday will begin shaping a summer-long training program designed to make the NBA's premier center stronger, healthier and leaner.

It's a sharp departure in routine for O'Neal, who has long prized his offseasons as a time to relax and heal from a season of physical abuse. But at 31, he is feeling the strain of an 11-year career. For the first time in four years, O'Neal was not the league's most dominant player this season, nor was his team the league's best.

All of that conspired to change O'Neal's focus this summer. Gilday is the first personal trainer O'Neal has hired since joining the Lakers in 1996.