You would be hard pressed to find a basketball player or a professional athlete for that matter, with a bigger personality and stature than Shaquille O’Neal. With the announcement that Shaq will be retiring after 19 seasons in the NBA, it’s time to say farewell to one of the most entertaining athletic specimens in professional sports.
Call him the Big Diesel, Superman, The Big Cactus, The Big Aristotle or Shaq Daddy, whatever name you choose, you have to say it with the utmost respect for one of the greatest and most unique basketball players the world has ever seen.
There has never been a player with the size, agility, power, court vision, and sheer might that Shaq possessed. Shaq will be remembered for pulling down backboards until the NBA forced him to stop, he’ll be remembered for his four rings which included three of the greatest and most dominant NBA Finals performances when he was with the Lakers. Shaq has a long list of accolades, to name a few shaq has an MVP award, three Finals MVP awards, and 15 all-star selections.
He’ll be remembered for the part he played in the Kobe Bryant feud that ended a dynasty, he’ll be remembered for his rapping, his dancing and his insatiable thirst to entertain, even if it meant tossing his 7’1, 300 lbs body into the stands after a loose ball.
Shaq will certainly be a first ballot Hall of Famer, but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him well before his induction ceremony. Like his body, Shaq’s personality is far too big to go quietly, we can probably expect him to be hosting his own TV show really soon, well, another one other than Shaq Vs.
