Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports that Shaquille O?Neal may set back his own return to the court. He was expected to play against Atlanta on Tuesday, but he said yesterday that he?s experiencing pain in his right foot and  does not want to rush his return.

"I don't know," O'Neal said. "I'm still feeling pain. It's on the bottom part of my foot. Right now, I'm 85 percent. I think I'll have to wait till it's 95 percent rather than try to come back too soon."

It has already been 8 weeks since the Septermber 11th surgery on his big toe. If he sits out another week, the Lakers will be lucky to have weaker opponents in Atlanta and Golden State (Friday) during that time.  

"Even though I'm a superhero, I can't be a superhero all the time," O'Neal said. "I don't want to come in and mess around, get hurt and go out again. I just want to make sure. Once I get to 90-95 percent, I'll know."

O?Neal will be re-evaluated after practicing Sunday and Monday.