Shaq. The Diesel. The Big Daddy. Superman. The Big Shamrock. Shaqtus. The Big Aristotle. The list goes on and on. Now, he’s going to be the Big 401k.
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| Shaq may have been the greatest at winning while entertaining in sports history |
Only a legend would be able to acquire all these nicknames. Perhaps the most prominent celebrity figure in the history of the game, Shaquille O’Neal is finally hanging up his sneakers. As a huge fan of basketball in general, I wouldn’t be doing this blog justice by not trying to take a look back at his illustrious career. As NBA commissioner David Stern says, he really is a true giant – both on and off the court. He has established his legacy as both an entertainer and a Hall of Fame basketball player. If you can get perspective on everything he’s accomplished, you’ll realize he truly is larger than life.
What can you say about his basketball career? He became a dominant force once he got to the NBA in 1992. A 15-time All-Star, 4-time champion, 3-time Finals MVP (and somehow only a 1-time regular season MVP); his accomplishments make him rank him up there among the greatest big men ever to play the game. His tremendous impact on the game was evident once he set foot on the court. In his rookie year, he played a game against Boston and was matched up with Kevin McHale and Robert Parish when they were still on board. Stunned by the one-of-a-kind physical specimen that anybody has ever encountered before, McHale said he and Parish looked at each other during that game and both said “Yeah, it’s about time to retire!”
More than any other basketball legend (except maybe Charles Barkley), Shaq was equally well-known for his hilarious demeanor and publicity stunts as much as for his basketball achievements. Because of the attention he’s drawn to himself from the fans, media, and players, he has called himself “very quotatious” as a result. One of my favorite Shaq quotes of all time happened when the NBA conducted a BMI study during the 2005-06 season and Shaq was asked about his high BMI (which was well in the obese category); his response: “Top 50. Three Rings. Lotta Money. Two Mansions.” Of course, he has four rings now, and he goes down as the most dominant player the league has ever seen.
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| Even if you rooted against Shaq, you had to love his ability to entertain in other ways |
For anyone who didn’t like his game (truth be told – for a long while, I was among this group), you had to love the guy off the court. If you ask anyone that’s spent time with him, he is an absolute blast to hang out with. Not only did he embrace the social media to cultivate his image with fans and the press, but he was very active (and interactive) with the community. Very few famous people embrace being a celebrity the way Shaq does; he knew better than anybody that athletes are supposed to be entertainers as well. Whether he's break-dancing, pretending to be a point guard, kissing Tracy McGrady, or intentionally throwing free throws off the backboard to do monster (but illegal) put-back dunks at All-Star games, he never ran out of ideas for giving everyone a good laugh.
Since I’ve never met him personally, I’m only basing this off of general observation and the perspective of others: he is one of the most approachable celebrities you’ll ever meet. Most stars and icons are low-key and want to be left alone; they usually have bodyguards with them in public to ensure people don’t harass them. Not that there’s nothing wrong with that, but Shaq never did mind being out in the open for anyone to come up close to him. Of course, at 7’1” and 350 pounds, he’s not exactly someone who needs to fear for his security. Still, if you see Shaq at say, a restaurant, he would come over to your table and grab something from your plate. He'd make sure you weren't shy about coming up to him to say hi. Even though he was a true beast, he was gentle and friendly in nature.
He also pulls a lot of publicity stunts, like his “Shaqtue” act – where he sat silently at Harvard Square and let everyone there take pictures with him. With the era of social networking blossoming, he is a very active “Tweeter,” always sending out public message videos and gives fans a chance to interact with him.
With so much that went on during his storied 19-year career, I could go on and on about his memorable moments. Instead, I’ll go through some of the common questions and misconceptions about his legacy:
Misconceptions
“Was Shaq really that good? He only won because he was bigger than everybody.”
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| When motivated, Shaq was a devastating force that could not be stopped |
This is the most common misconception among casual sports fans with regard to Shaq – that he was only good because of his size and strength. While those were his two greatest physical assets, everyone must understand that he had many, many more skills than just his behemoth presence. First and foremost, his mobility was absolutely remarkable for a guy his size. Over the course of his career, he greatly improved his passing ability, especially out of double and triple teams. his most dominant years were as a Laker from 2000-2004. In fact, to get a true understanding of how skillful he actually is, compare him with Dwight Howard. The two of them are very similar. In fact, Dwight is actually more athletic than Shaq ever was. But many of Dwight’s criticisms – lack of offensive moves, inability to hit free throws, etc. – were weakne
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