Shaquille O'Neal thinks it's unfair that the rest of the league can hack, hold and hit him but he's not allowed to protect himself.

League officials have reportedly been placed on alert. After some well placed forearms and elbows to his opponents recently. A league source said that they have been shown tapes of the incidents. Officials have reportedly been told to keep an eye out for O'Neal intentionally hitting opponents.

That, the source said, is what prompted referee Bob Delaney to eject O'Neal last Monday in Utah. O'Neal twice struck Andrei Kirilenko, once in the neck and once on the head, and Delaney viewed both blows as intentional.

Speaking generally, O'Neal practically admitted as much.

"I know that the only way the other players in this league can stop me is to foul me," he told the Sun-Times. "They got to grab, hold and pound on me. I don't mind that so much. But let me at least protect myself. Let me give out the same punishment that I'm receiving. Hey, I can play within the rules."