Tuesday, June 22, 2004 | 10:53 a.m.
Shaquille O'Neal hit Las Vegas hard over the weekend.
He was seen at several events and locales. Strangely, however, he wasn't seen at the Palms, one of Vegas' most notable hangouts for athletes and celebrities.
But that could change. George Maloof and his brothers, who also own the Sacramento Kings, could be his next bosses.
At each of the three places our sources caught up to the 7-foot-1-inch Los Angeles Lakers star, the message was the same: He'd be very interested in playing for the Kings.
"Shaq was in on Saturday night, drinking water and posing for photos with fans," said Branden Powers of the Forum Shops at Caesars nightclub OPM.
According to Powers, "People were throwing teams out at him," asking where he might land next season, after what is shaping up as an offseason Lakers housecleaning in the wake of their shocking five-game loss in the NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons.
It was announced last week that veteran Lakers coach Phil Jackson was not going to return, and troubled star Kobe Bryant is expected to check out the free-agent market after opting out of his Lakers contract.
"People said the Bulls, the Magic, the Pistons," Powers said. "He kept shaking his head no, and then he said: 'Don't you be surprised if I'm playing for the Kings next season.' "
OPM owner Michael Goodwin also spoke to O'Neal about becoming partners on a new Vegas nightclub.
Afterward, O'Neal drove off in an Isuzu Rodeo and turned up at the Foundation Room (Mandalay Bay).
According to a server who chose to remain anonymous, "Shaq was telling people that he'd love to play for the Maloofs -- partly because they could afford his contract."
O'Neal is scheduled to make $27.7 million next season.
The man nicknamed "Diesel" started his evening at the Ultimate Fighting Championship event at Mandalay Bay, where he was also overheard talking about the Maloofs and the Kings.
"I can't talk about something like that at all," George Maloof told us on Monday. He owns the team with brothers Gavin Maloof and Joe Maloof, who primarily operate it.
"The NBA could fine me. I mean, the guy is a great player, but that is all I can say," Maloof said.
Bad boy
Former Motley Crue drummer and Pamela Anderson companion Tommy Lee was up to his old tricks Sunday night at Light (Bellagio).
He was there to play DJ for a Father's Day party when things got a bit out of hand, and Lee was removed from the club by security, according to the club's Sean Christie.
Seems that Lee was a "lousy" DJ, and patrons were sitting on the dance floor and chatting while he was spinning, Christie said.
"He was playing lousy music. Some of it was his own and most of it was totally unrecognizable, and the bottom line is, the crowd didn't dig it. The last thing we were trying to do was embarrass the guy, so we told him to wrap up his set and make a graceful exit.
"When he refused, we said we would just pull the plug on him, which is what we ended up doing," Christie said.
Then Lee started screaming obscenities into the crowd and pushing his Sanctuary management rep who had accompanied him.
That's when Christie called for the gendarmes.
Christie and the club were also miffed that despite a rider detailing Lee's pay and extras, he continued to order $800 bottles of Cristal champagne and refused to pay for them.
"We bent over backwards to accommodate Tommy, but he was just being crazy," Christie said. "If he cleans up his act we'd welcome him back with open arms. But dealing with him was probably one of the worst experiences I've ever had in this business."
Calls to Lee's reps at Sanctuary in Los Angeles were not returned Monday afternoon.
VegasBits
Dancin': Patrick Swayze and Richard Roundtree ("Shaft") (now that's an unusual combination!) were both singing karaoke at a private high-rollers event at a Golden Nugget suite on Saturday night ...
Star: Hoops legend Julius "Dr. J" Erving was spotted playing $5 slots at New York-New York the other night ...
Service: Kiss tongueman Gene Simmons was dining at Mr. Luckys (Hard Rock) on Saturday night, and ordered oatmeal cookies for dessert. But they didn't have any, so a waitress went out and bought some for him ..
Birthday: Juliette Lewis celebrated her 31st birthday Sunday (the actual day was Monday) at Nobu (Hard Rock) with her Juliette and the Licks bandmates, bassist Paul Ill and drummer Patty Schemel (formerly of Hole) ...
Show: Actor Robert Duvall took in the late performance of "O" (Bellagio) on Thursday night ...
Interesting: Station Casinos boss Frank Fertitta hosted a party of 14 at Charlie Palmer Steak (Four Seasons) on Saturday night. The group included Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber and Tim Poster and Tom Breitling of the Golden Nugget ...
Score: Anaheim Mighty Ducks goaltender and 2003 Stanley Cup Finals MVP Jean-Sebastian Giguere and his wife, Kristen, celebrated their first anniversary at Picasso (Bellagio) over the weekend with DeLuca Liquor & Wine of Las Vegas executive Bob Cranston and real estate agent Kandra Perreira ...
Sing: "Midnight Fantasy" (Luxor) star Stephanie Jordan is doing a midnight set today of her original material at The Lounge at the Palms ...
Irish: Seven former Notre Dame football stars will be signing autographs at the Stardust Race and Sports Book this week. Jerome Bettis, Ross Browner, Bill Fisher, Bob Golic, George Izo, Myron Pottios and Tony Rice will be at the hotel from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday ...
Eats: Flamingo headliner George Wallace attended and performed at the annual Food & Beverage Directors Association of Nevada gala Saturday night at The Venetian. Riviera headliner Marlene Ricci also performed for a group that included UNLV prez Carol Harter; Sunbelt Communications and KVBC Channel 3 boss Jim Rogers; and local food heavyweights Siegfried Pumberger (Stratosphere), Heinz Lauer, (Le Cordon Bleu school), Bill Heirs (Tropicana), Lloyd Weintzell (Riviera), Tom Rosenberger (CCSN's Culinary Arts School) and Kurt Weinrich (Opportunity Village.)
From Sun wires
Poker champ: Ben Affleck won $356,400 last weekend at a poker tournament in Commerce, Calif., that also earned him a seat in next year's World Poker Tour Championship next April at the Bellagio, casino officials said.
The 31-year-old actor outlasted a field of 90 players to capture the Commerce Casino's California State Poker Championship.
Phish farewell: As part of its farewell to New York, the rock band Phish played a 45-minute show on Monday, standing 20 feet above Broadway on the Ed Sullivan Theater marquee.
Part of the performance was taped for broadcast later on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" at the theater.
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