Pat Riley: O'Neal out of bounds

NEW YORK — Pat Riley can't understand why Shaquille O'Neal keeps talking about the Miami Heat.

Riley responded to O'Neal's criticisms Wednesday with some of his own, saying his former Miami center was wrong to disparage some of his old teammates and trainers in a Boston Globe story.

"It's sad that he says those things. We shared so much here, together, for three years, good and bad, 3 ½ years," Riley said, referring specifically to the Heat's 2006 NBA title. "I just think it's sad that he's got to do that."

Riley, the Miami coach and president, dealt O'Neal to Phoenix before the trade deadline, allowing the 36-year-old center the chance to compete for another title. O'Neal made it clear how much he prefers his new teammates.

"I love playing for this coach and I love playing with these guys," O'Neal told the Globe. "We have professionals who know what to do. No one is asking me to play with Chris Quinn or Ricky Davis. I'm actually on a team again."

After Phoenix's loss to Boston, O'Neal elaborated, saying that defenses would sag off Quinn and Davis and he wasn't able to get the ball.

Riley said he wasn't bothered by criticism leveled at him, but said O'Neal has no reason to blame anyone else in the organization.

Of Riley's comments, O'Neal said colorfully, "I don't [care] how he interpreted it."

Webber calls it quits

OAKLAND, Calif. — Chris Webber burst on the basketball scene nearly two decades ago as a precocious freshman with his baggy shorts and black shoes as part of Michigan's Fab Five.

His basketball career came to a much quieter finish when he made official what seemed inevitable as he struggled to recover from another knee injury in recent weeks.

Webber announced his retirement after 15 NBA seasons, cutting short his comeback attempt with the Golden State Warriors.

"It definitely didn't work out the way that I planned," the 35-year-old Webber said.

Webber played nine games with the Warriors before being sidelined by a bum left knee. He has not played since March 2.

Notes

• Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy will miss tonight's game at Golden State and said it's likely he'll be out longer because of a groin injury.

• The Illinois Supreme Court said it will not hear an appeal in the long-running legal dispute between retired superstar Michael Jordan and an Indianapolis woman who claimed he agreed to pay her $5 million to keep an affair secret. DNA tests showed her child wasn't Jordan's.

• A judge in Bradenton, Fla., dismissed a request for a restraining order filed by former NBA referee Tim Donaghy's estranged wife because she did not attend a scheduled court hearing. Kimberly Donaghy did not appear at a hearing after requesting protection against her husband last week.

• The Houston Rockets, in a halftime ceremony, presented center Dikembe Mutombo with a $500,000 check for the hospital that Mutombo built in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Former president George H.W. Bush had a courtside seat.