It was announced by Shaquille O'Neal on Wednesday that he is retiring from the NBA. Shaq had the official press conference on Friday at his house in Orlando. Shaq might be the best center ever. Personally, I think Kareem 1st, Wilt 2nd, Shaq 3rd, Russell 4th and Olajuwon 5th. Shaq in his playing career played from 1992-2011, he played for the Magic, Lakers, Heat, Suns, Cavaliers and Celtics, he wore 32, 33, 34 and 36 in his career. He won 4 NBA titles, 3 in a row with the Lakers in 2000-2002 and the Heat in 2006. He also went to the Finals in 1995 with the Magic losing to the Rockets and in 2004 with the Lakers losing to the Pistons. He won Finals MVP in the 2000-2002 Finals with the Lakers. Shaq is currently 5th All-Time in scoring with 28,596 points behind only Kareem, Karl Malone, Jordan and Wilt, although Kobe is only 728 points behind. Shaq is 12th All-Time in Rebounds with 13,099. He has the most 20 PPG and 10 RPG season with 13 season which is most All-Time. Shaq made 58.23% of his field goals, that is the best ever, although he was terrible at free throws shooting 52.7% for his career. Amazing he only won one regular season MVP in 2000. He was drafted #1 overall by the Magic in 1992. He averaged 23.4 PPG and 13.9 RPG and won Rookie of the Year. He is was a 15-time NBA All-Star which is 2nd all-time only to Kareem, but could be tied by Garnett next year.Shaq had 2 NBA Scoring Titles one in 1994-95 averaging 29.3 PPG and in 1999-00 averaging 29.7 PPG. He is one of 15 players with more than one Scoring Titles and he is the only Scoring Titles winner since the 3-pointer has added not to make one and win the it. Shaq had 8 All-NBA 1st Teams, 2 2nd Teams and 4 3rd Teams. He is tied with Karl Malone for 2nd most total selections only behind Kareem. He had 3 All-NBA Defensive 2nd Team selections, he was a pretty could defend because he weighted more then 300 pounds. He also had 3 All-Star Game MVPs one in 2000, one in 2004 and a co-MVP with Kobe in 2009. He is tied for 3rd All-Time for those only behind Pettit and Kobe. Shaq has had 2 gold medals win the 1996 Basketball Gold Medal with the Dream Team 2 and the 1994 FIBA World Championship. Shaq career high was 61 points on his birthday (March 6th) in 2000 against the Clippers. His 61 his tied for 41st All-Time most of the one ahead of him was Wilt who has 23 games with more than 61 points. Shaq rebounding game high was 28 boards on 11/20/1993 against the Nets. That is nothing compared to Wilt getting 55 boards in one game. Shaq is one of my favorite players of all-time he is so funny and likeable. I always will remember the video of him breaking a backboard and the other time pulling the whole home down. Shaq will be a easy Hall Fame in 2016 after he waits is 5 years if this is really the end of Shaq.
No comments:
Post a Comment