2012-13 Season

Jermaine O’Neal on Ailing Daughter

March 13, 2013 By


Suns center Jermaine O’Neal rejoined the team Monday after heading back to Boston to be with his ailing daughter, Asjia, last week while she underwent surgery to repair a leaky heart valve. O’Neal said she was released from the hospital Monday and is expected to make a full recovery. After being by her side throughout the week, the center spoke about how the experience affected him personally.

As a parent, you try to be as mentally strong as you can for your kids.

But my daughter taught me a lot about strength over these past six days. It’s hard to see your kids go through what she went through the first two or three days.
It was pretty difficult for her, me, my wife and all the family members that were there. I don’t think there is anything that you can do that prepares you to see the emotions of your child going into surgery. [Read more...]

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Court Report: Jermaine O’Neal Takes Leave

March 5, 2013 By

Court Report

The Suns are currently riding a season-high-tying three-game winning streak as they face the visiting Raptors on Wednesday. With four days between games, the Suns had a nice little respite before resuming the final 22 contests of the regular season. Check out what was uncovered after practice Tuesday.

O’Neal Absent

In order to catch a flight to Boston to visit his daughter, Suns center Jermaine O’Neal left practice early Tuesday. His 13-year-old daughter, Asjia, will undergo surgery to repair a leaky heart valve Wednesday. [Read more...]

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Jermaine O’Neal and Kendall Marshall Go Way Back

February 19, 2013 By

Sometimes life comes full circle.

As kids we all worship certain people. Whether it be professional athletes, actors, writers, business leaders or reality television stars — a category newly added to the list for reasons beyond me — there are just individuals that we look up to and want to be around.

On a rare occasion you get to meet those people that hold a large influence over you and spend a few minutes in their presence. On an even rarer occasion, you get to actually work with them when you grow up.

At least that was the case for Suns rookie point guard Kendall Marshall. [Read more...]

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The Jermaine Event

November 20, 2012 By

With 17 seasons of playing in the NBA under his belt, Suns center Jermaine O’Neal has long started the process of starting his life after his basketball career ends. Check out what the six-time All-Star has in store for himself when he’s finished on the court. [Read more...]

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Jermaine O'Neal's Training Camp Blog

October 2, 2012 By

(Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty Images)

Oct. 4, 2012

The player that has impressed me the most thus far has been Markieff Morris. He’s like a sponge.

That’s the first thing I noticed about him. I always stay after our workouts and get some extra work in, and the first two days I looked to the side and saw him just sitting there watching.

That’s a sign of a player that wants to be better, has a plan, and wants to be really good in this league. He went from watching the first couple days to getting in there and doing drills with me.

You could tell that he wanted to get in and work hard. I was impressed with a lot of guys, but I was probably most impressed with him because he is a young guy with a very hard work ethic. You don’t see that a lot in our league.

It’s my position to really help guys, not only on the court, but away from basketball. Mentally if you’re there, you’re going to get better physically.

Oct. 3, 2012

The Suns training staff is just unbelievable. They do a lot of things that I haven’t seen in a while.

This is a billion dollar business, but you’d be surprised, certain teams don’t go to the extent of keeping those entities healthy to win games. The routine on a day-to-day basis is not always the best.

It’s like an assembly line in a factory, where you go down the line and everybody’s touching you. You go from one person to the next to the next, until you’re ready.

But Grant Hill sold the Suns’ training staff to me and the importance they put on being healthy. Grant and I went to Germany for the treatment and started talking about that. And then Jared talked more about that to me in Vegas.

But coming back all started with going out to Germany and getting that treatment. It went phenomenal.

I did a four month training session to try to change my body, change everything about it. It was like starting with a clean white board.

Instead of working out like I have done in the past, it was like starting over as if I was a rookie. The more I got into the workouts, the better I felt. I started noticing that I got lift again.

It wasn’t just my knee, it was more mental. I had to ask myself: is this really what I wanted to do going into my 17th season?

But the more I got into the summer, the better I felt. I told teams that I had a due date that I wanted to get to before I decided to play.

And I did…

Oct. 2, 2012

Day one of training camp!

Entering my 17th NBA season, I’ve obviously participated in a lot of them, but I’m really looking forward to this one because it’s different. It’s a new system for me, new teammates, a new philosophy and a new challenge, which is what our league is all about. [Read more...]

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A Coach, Mayor, Center and Cancer All in a Day's Work

August 16, 2012 By

The one question everyone seems to ask me when they find out what I do for a living is, “What’s it like to work in the NBA for the Phoenix Suns?” Usually my answer is somewhere between polite and brutally honest. I tell people that most days are like every other job. You clock in, sit at your desk and do your best to get your work done. The answer is a lot like seeing a Kardashian in person: not quite as glamorous as you’d expect.

The key to the description is “most days.” On some days calling the US Airways Center your office can be nothing short of surreal. This week had one of those days for me. It was a 12-hour period that had the potential to be one of the worst in my life, but turned into yet another reminder of why I’ve always had a connection with the Suns and the building. [Read more...]

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