“I’m pretty much able to play any style,” he said, turning and touching Brown’s shoulder. “I’m not here to demand 40 or 50 shots. But I would like 30.

“I’m just coming here to do my part and help a damn good team get over the hump.”

The Cavaliers won 66 games during the regular season and eight straight to open the playoffs, but they came up short this June when they were eliminated by the Magic in the Eastern Conference finals. There is a greater sense of urgency in Cleveland to win it all because James is entering his final year under contract and there are no guarantees he will stay.

When asked about James’ plans, O’Neal said his Uncle Jerome, who was in attendance, had taught him to “never worry about tomorrow, worry about today.”

O’Neal is sure that if James wins his first title in Cleveland, he’ll stay around for more.

“In a perfect world and we win and take care of business, he has no choice but to stay here,” O’Neal said. “If we do what we came here to do, everything will fall into place.”

James has been vacationing with his family and did not attend O’Neal’s news conference. The superstars have exchanged e-mails and O’Neal plans to visit James this summer.

O’Neal joked that his trade to Cleveland made his family happy.

“My sons love LeBron more than they love me,” he said. “I’m just a little jealous about it.”

Now that he’s on a new team, O’Neal needs a new nickname. His previous monikers: The Big Diesel, The Big Aristotle. The Big Cactus, Shaq Fu, don’t fit his new digs. So, has he come up with one?

“A friend tweeted me with ’The Big Freeze,”’ he said. “I don’t know about that one. I’ve got to go home, play around with the kids and figure something out. I’ll have one.”

He’s already got four rings, winning three straight titles with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers and one in Miami with Dwyane Wade.

“They say things happen in three,” he said. “I won with the great Kobe, the great D-Wade and now it’s my job to win one with the great LeBron James. We have everything in place. We just got to get it done.”