Sports Illustrated: “BOSTON (AP) He was a prolific producer of rebounds and record albums. And nicknames, too, as if at 7-foot-1 and 350 pounds he was too big for the simple “Shaq” that made him an instantly recognizable, one-name star in all of his endeavors.”
Shaquille O’Neal is my favorite modern day player, period. The game will miss him, as will I.
ESPN, or TBS, you’d better hire this guy.
4 replies on “The Big Aristotle Retires”
I liked Shaquille O’Neal as well; always have. He was one of the few players I found myself following and rooting for no matter where he went.
With that said I hope no one hires this guy. Not ESPN, not TBS, not Fox. Listening to this guy talk is painful. It’d be like having another Charles Barkley on the air…only quieter.
Really? You don’t think he’d be a bit more entertaining than Sir Charles. I always liked Chuck when he was a player. I find him entertaining and genuine. He doesn’t let the punks in the NBA get away with their punkishness.
I met Shaquille O’Neal once. It was at one of the SEC tournaments, either in 1990 or 1991. I spent a lot of my time with the Vanderbilt basketball players and one of my best friends there was a center on the team. He was “only” 6’11” and was not skinny. In any event, I was used to spending a lot of time around very tall, big people.
And I couldn’t believe just how big Shaquille O’Neal was when he shook my hand. He was just a giant of a man. With the benefit of hindsight, I’m pretty sure it was more than just his physical size–he had an amazing presence and charisma about him that made him, well, larger than life.
I have enjoyed watching him play and though I understood why teams played “Hack-a-Shaq” during his prime years, it made me sad because I would have loved to see what he could do if he were ever allowed to get into the flow of the games for the whole season rather than fighting off fouls all the time, and the pain that came with them, because most of those guys weren’t just giving him love taps.
Thanks for sharing that story Tommy!
By all accounts he’s a super nice guy.