Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas better enjoy these 30 days off while he can.

Cleveland Cavaliers big man Shaquille O’Neal will undergo surgery on his right thumb on Monday, all but likely ending his regular season.

With O’Neal out, Ilgauskas will have to fill the void at center when he’s able to re-sign with the team following his buyout from the Washington Wizards in the Antawn Jamison deal.

If you thought Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers were upset with the fact that Big Z could return to the Cavs after a 30-day cooling off period, just imagine how they feel now?

Long term, the injury to O’Neal might be a blessing, assuming he’s able to bounce back and recover in time for the playoffs. Cleveland has the Eastern Conference  just about wrapped up and you’re able to save O’Neal’s 38-year-old legs for when it matters most.

In case you ever wanted to see Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant in the bathtub, here you go.

Bryant is the cover boy in the March issue of GQ Magazine where the 31-year-old opens up about his relationship with former teammate Shaquille O’Neal.

“The biggest mistake I made was responding to what he was saying about me,” said Bryant on O’Neal. “Once I responded, now that made it seem like I was part of that whole thing. It’s like, Okay, these two are against each other. As opposed to just staying quiet, which is what I’ve been doing the last few years. Let him say what he needs to say.”

This is another sign that Bryant is maturing on and off the court if he’s able to admit fault in the O’Neal saga.

You can debate about all day about who is better between Kobe and LeBron, but I’ll take a 31-year-old Bryant over the 25-year-old James all day.

In case you want to read the entire interview, you can check it out here.

Is there anyone actually excited for the 2010 NBA Slam Dunk Contest?

Outside of Lakers guard Shannon Brown, there’s nobody worthy of being in the event. (Do you really want to watch Nate Robinson miss 15 more dunks in a row?)

But Shaquille O’Neal has an idea that would not only shake up the contest but would help the survivors from the earthquake in Haiti.

O’Neal wants to see slam dunk legends and past champions like Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter and teammate LeBron James enter the contest and have half of the prize money go to Haiti.

“As his manager, I will only allow ‘Bron to do the dunk contest if Vince Carter comes back out,” O’Neal said. “If Kobe comes back out and if another big name comes back out. If we could get a big prize and have half of the money go to the people of Haiti and the other half to the winner.

“The guys that are in it, no disrespect to them, but there won’t really be any competition for LeBron. I want to see Kobe. I want to see Vince and I will allow my client to enter.”

This is the best idea O’Neal has had since he joined Twitter.

Will it actually happen?

Of course not.

But one can dream, right?

If you’re addicted to Twitter like most of the world, you probably saw the trending topic “Shaq Retires” last night and this morning.

No, Shaquille hasn’t decided to hang them up just yet.

The trending topic started as a result of the folks over at Collegehumor.com who started the tweet.

And like the other sheep … err followers on Twitter, they decided to retweet that information.

Next thing you know, you have people scrambling to ESPN.com and turning on Sportscenter to see if they had missed something.

The big fella hasn’t acknowledged the rumor yet on his Twitter page but rest asure he will be in uniform Friday night for Cleveland against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Shaquille O’Neal is having quite the busy week.

After challenging The Big Show and Chris Jericho of the WWE in the ring on Monday Night Raw, O’Neal has called out another high-profile athlete.

In order to promote his new television show “Shaq vs.,” O’Neal took to Twitter to call out Los Angeles Galaxy soccer stud David Beckham.

“Dear david beckham, I kno u heard about my shaq vs show, anyway u will never score a goal on me, I challenge you lil man“

In case you don’t speak Shaq, he’s challenging Beckham to score against with him with the big man in goal.

The new and improved Shaq, who has slimmed down considerably, wouldn’t stand a chance against Beckham, who is in need of some good PR to restore his public image to the fans in L.A.

Just to make things interesting, Beckham is a huge Los Angeles Lakers fans and friend of Kobe Bryant.

“Its official, today is david beckham is scared of shaq, day, he should b scared, he can never score a goal on me.”

And it’s official, I’m scared of Shaq’s spelling.

“My motto is very simple. Win a ring for the King.”

- Shaquille O’Neal at his first press conference as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

O’Neal always knew how to say all the right things to win over his new teammates.

He won a ring with Kobe and D-Wade … can he win one with the King?

LeBron James, help is on the way.

The Phoenix Suns traded Shaquille O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic and the 46th overall pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft.

According to sources, the deal is 90 percent done and is waiting approval from both team’s owners.

LeBron and Shaq … still not enough to get past the Lakers in the NBA Finals.

O’Neal will be 38 come next year’s playoffs and would get abused by younger, faster big men such as Kevin Garnett and Pau Gasol.

If Shaq was the Big Cactus in Phoenix, what’s his nickname going to be in Cleveland?

The Big Mistake By The Lake?

Foooooooooour!

Kobe Bryant finally got the 7-foot-1, 320-pound gorilla off his back Sunday night.

The Los Angeles Lakers won their 15th NBA Championship, knocking off the Orlando Magic in five games.

And finally, we can stop wondering if Bryant could win a NBA title without Shaquille O’Neal.

Shaq had a message for Bryant after the Lakers victory via Twitter:

“Congratulations kobe, u deserve it. You played great . Enjoy it my man enjoy it. And I know what yur sayin rt now “Shaq how my ass taste ”

Good to know O’Neal has a sense of humor.

How much you want to bet he tries to weasel his way back on the Lakers when his contract is up next season?

On the eve of the NBA Finals, Shaquille O’Neal made it no secret who he is rooting for.

O’Neal tweeted today: “I am saying it today and today only, I want kobe bryant to get number four, spread da word.”

I’m spreading the word on behalf of O’Neal, who secretly has to be rooting against Bryant catching him in the rings category.

Lakers in 6.

“I heard what Chris Bosh said, and that’s strong words coming from the RuPaul of big men,” O’Neal said. “I’m going to do the same thing (in their next meeting) I did before – make him quit. Make ‘em quit and complain. It’s what I do.”

- Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O’Neal on Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh.

He’s back.

Google him.