Shaq retires!

Its the end to a great career. Shaq was 1 of the most dominate inside players ever. The league will truely miss him.

2 years(atleast) too late. Should have retired when he left Miami. Those days in Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston were just sad/pathetic.

One of, if not the most dominate player to ever play the game.

OU wrote:

2 years(atleast) too late. Should have retired when he left Miami. Those days in Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston were just sad/pathetic.

One of, if not the most dominate player to ever play the game.

He has been injured alot though.

timthebim wrote:

OU wrote:

2 years(atleast) too late. Should have retired when he left Miami. Those days in Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston were just sad/pathetic.

One of, if not the most dominate player to ever play the game.

He has been injured alot though.

Wasn't he one of the 3 oldest players in the league this year? At his size, injuries are just a given at this point.

OU wrote:

timthebim wrote:

OU wrote:

2 years(atleast) too late. Should have retired when he left Miami. Those days in Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston were just sad/pathetic.

One of, if not the most dominate player to ever play the game.

He has been injured alot though.

Wasn't he one of the 3 oldest players in the league this year? At his size, injuries are just a given at this point.

He was the oldest player in the league last year.

most dominant player i ever saw play with my own eyes............after Jordan

Birdofthad wrote:

most dominant player i ever saw play with my own eyes............after Jordan

I think he was even more dominant than Jordan. The guy was unstopable.

OU wrote:

2 years(atleast) too late. Should have retired when he left Miami. Those days in Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston were just sad/pathetic.

One of, if not the most dominate player to ever play the game.

He wasnt that bad in Phoenix, but not on par of course.

Honestly, if the refs called all the fouls they could have on Shaq, he would have been in foul trouble every game. Mostly on the offensive end. Elbows, over the back, lowering the shoulders...unbelievable.

I think one of the main reason he went from dominance to horrible, other than age..the refs started calling fouls on him and he couldnt stay in a game long enough to get settled in and be a factor. I just don't buy a guy who always relied on sheer force just becoming irrelevant. He's still huge, stronger than everybody, he was never truly a great athlete despite how much people wanted to claim he was...he just didnt get away with the same thing.

It's not like Hakeem and Ewing who were horrible at the tail end of their careers because a lot of what made them great was athleticism. When there knees went out..so did their game. How come Shaq was not strong enough to muscle guys these last few years..he's still stronger than everybody...from what i saw, he was always in foul trouble because the league had moved on from him being one of their biggest stars.

Age is a huge factor, but Shaq should have been atleast serviceable these past few years considering what his game is.

Shaq was and is an all-time great NBA player and personality, his number is already reported to be getting retired by the Lakers as it should be. He was such a unique player and force, and really I can't imagine another player coming along that will play the game like him. It was always sad to me that Shaq and Kobe's run together ended like it did, to me they are the greatest 2 man combo in NBA history (yes MJ and Pippen, but it's different) and who knows how many Titles they would have won together if they just acknowledged eachothers talents. There is so much I can say about him as a player, but I'd be typing an essay if I did. Always will remember him as a fan and what he did for the Lakers.

KingsOwn19 wrote:

OU wrote:

2 years(atleast) too late. Should have retired when he left Miami. Those days in Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston were just sad/pathetic.

One of, if not the most dominate player to ever play the game.

He wasnt that bad in Phoenix, but not on par of course.

Honestly, if the refs called all the fouls they could have on Shaq, he would have been in foul trouble every game. Mostly on the offensive end. Elbows, over the back, lowering the shoulders...unbelievable.

I think one of the main reason he went from dominance to horrible, other than age..the refs started calling fouls on him and he couldnt stay in a game long enough to get settled in and be a factor. I just don't buy a guy who always relied on sheer force just becoming irrelevant. He's still huge, stronger than everybody, he was never truly a great athlete despite how much people wanted to claim he was...he just didnt get away with the same thing.

It's not like Hakeem and Ewing who were horrible at the tail end of their careers because a lot of what made them great was athleticism. When there knees went out..so did their game. How come Shaq was not strong enough to muscle guys these last few years..he's still stronger than everybody...from what i saw, he was always in foul trouble because the league had moved on from him being one of their biggest stars.

Age is a huge factor, but Shaq should have been atleast serviceable these past few years considering what his game is.

That is a very interesting point, and very smart, I've noticed the NBA does that from time to time with certain players and pushes the new wave. You def know your shit Kings.

I won't just detract Shaq's overall game in his retirement thread and leave it at that. So i'll post a good childhood memory Shaq provided me.

I was a HUGE Shaq mark when i was a little kid. Loved him with the Magic, and even his first year or two in LA before my team came into the picture in 99. Anyway, when Shaq was with Orlando in maybe his second year, i was about 7...i sent him a fan letter. Pretty much saying i thought he was the greatest ever. I sent out a lot of fan letters to adresses provided in a book by their people i'm guessing. Anyway, i sent letters to Penny, Pippen, Reggie, Dream, Sir Charles, and Shaq. Shaq was my favorite though. I only got two letters back..a long time after i sent a letter. Barkley and Shaq hit me back. Barkley had a ghost typed thanks for the support letter with a picture with a photo copied signature attached. It's cool though, i got his autograph like a year later in person courtside a couple hours before a Kings vs. Suns game at ARCO Arena, free of charge. Shaq had a hella fancy envelope and a pre-typed thanks for the support letter, with a huge photo attacched. The signature on letter was photo copied, but the signature on the picture was legit...clearly signed with permanent marker. I was so fuckin stoked. It must have been Shaq was still new and was still trying to be a legit fan pleaser. Around that time, a friend of mine sent Shaq a fan letter and got the Sir Charles package...so maybe Shaq just signed a select number of pictures and gave it out to his team to package for lucky fans. It was awesome. I still have the autograph somewhere in a box with my basketball cards that havent dusted off in a good ten years.

Good stuff Kings, Shaq was one of the all-time NBA nice guys. I got a picture with him one time and remember he just acted like his big goofy self, wasn't a big deal at all for him to do it. It's funny cause I was a Shaq fan when he was in Orlando too, and I remember I bought his player card with my Gramps maybe back in 96, and was so stoked, Shaq is just a real likable player. You know guys like MJ, Kobe ect are great, but not quite as personable as Shaq was and is.

Shaq LOL

LA wrote:

KingsOwn19 wrote:

OU wrote:

2 years(atleast) too late. Should have retired when he left Miami. Those days in Phoenix, Cleveland and Boston were just sad/pathetic.

One of, if not the most dominate player to ever play the game.

He wasnt that bad in Phoenix, but not on par of course.

Honestly, if the refs called all the fouls they could have on Shaq, he would have been in foul trouble every game. Mostly on the offensive end. Elbows, over the back, lowering the shoulders...unbelievable.

I think one of the main reason he went from dominance to horrible, other than age..the refs started calling fouls on him and he couldnt stay in a game long enough to get settled in and be a factor. I just don't buy a guy who always relied on sheer force just becoming irrelevant. He's still huge, stronger than everybody, he was never truly a great athlete despite how much people wanted to claim he was...he just didnt get away with the same thing.

It's not like Hakeem and Ewing who were horrible at the tail end of their careers because a lot of what made them great was athleticism. When there knees went out..so did their game. How come Shaq was not strong enough to muscle guys these last few years..he's still stronger than everybody...from what i saw, he was always in foul trouble because the league had moved on from him being one of their biggest stars.

Age is a huge factor, but Shaq should have been atleast serviceable these past few years considering what his game is.

That is a very interesting point, and very smart, I've noticed the NBA does that from time to time with certain players and pushes the new wave. You def know your shit Kings.

a great point Kings but i really think the changing point was game 1, Finals 2006, I was there for the game, Eric Dampier held Shaq to 4 points and it was clear that Shaq could no longer monster mash on people, lead to Wayde taking over the series and Shaqs slow decline that lead to hear.

that was probably a prety lucky grab kings because almost all big stars sgn agreements stating they wont sign autographs or send fans autographs (Jordan started this), rich collectors pay these guys alot of money (Jordan got somthing crazy like half a billion) to not sign autographs, that way the signature will be more valuable,basically pay them to only sign stuff for them and then they control the market and set the price.

thats a bad ass story kings

in fairness to Jorda, a friend of mine saw him in the 90's in Miami and he took a picture with him but told him he couldnt sign an autograph.

the best big man of my era in the NBA... hands down

OU wrote:

I had this poster LMAO! I LOVE the guy still to this day.

He was a huge star and not just for basketball.

Top 5 big man ever and a true world-wide superstar.

GDPofDRC wrote:

Top 5 big man ever and a true world-wide superstar.

Absolutely.