That created a small tempest, but that’s life around Shaq. Unless he’s fuming at someone, he’s not a factor.

When he first arrived in Phoenix, the consensus was that there was no consensus. Some thought he was too ancient and hefty to make any difference at all. Others felt he might just be rejuvenated enough to carry the Suns to the mountaintop. Some thought he would alter the way the Suns play for the worse, others believed for the better. He would be a positive presence in the lockerroom, or he would be an ego that would prove to be too divisive.

After a slow start, the Suns have played well in March and now into April as the regular season ends. They have won six of their last nine heading into Wednesday’s finale at home against Portland. Although they did not pick up the same kind of oomph that was provided to the Boston Celtics with the additions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, it was a different kind of resuscitation.

The Suns had reached the limit of their success as they were constructed with Marion. With this new configuration came new possibilities. The presence of a dominant big man in the middle — even one as long in the tooth and as puffy at the waist as Shaq — will provide a defensive dimension in the middle when the playoffs begin.

And the postseason is when Shaq is most valuable. He is not a regular-season player and hasn’t been for some time. But during the playoffs, when the games are spread apart, when a team can remain in one city for a few days at a time, when a club can focus more intensely on one opponent, when there is sometimes rest between rounds, and when there is a light to be spotted at the end of a long tunnel, the Suns will be able to get more out of their expensive center.

The Suns are not favored to win the West, but then again, no team is by much. The Lakers look formidable, but they could falter. The Spurs might stumble without Manu Ginobili. The Hornets, Jazz and Rockets all have question marks.

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But that means the field is open. There is an opportunity for one club to assert itself and lay claim to the Western Conference crown. The Suns have that capability on paper, especially if Shaq remembers what it was like to lead a team to a championship.

To do so, he’ll have to work up some old-fashioned animus. To get Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, Leandro Barbosa and Grant Hill to have positive feelings about their chances with him, they’ll have to hope Shaq feels negatively about a perceived enemy.

Revenge is sweet. At this time of year, it’s also 7-foot-1 and 325 pounds.