36 years old, 4 NBA Championships and still looks like an imposing force on the court, while he can still hold court off it with the media. But Shaquille O'Neal isn't Shaquille O'Neal anymore. At least not the man that used to tear down backboards and average nearly 30 points and 12 rebounds a game when he played with the Magic, and Lakers.
Those powerful dunks have been replaced with layups off the glass. The points are down to about 16 and 8 rebounds a game. I've written before about how hard it can be sometimes to see players we love so much no longer able to perform the way they used to in their respective sport. Shaq was upset with the way the Heat handled him in the end. Unfortunately, the Heat made the right move by trading O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns when they did. Heck, they're even luckier the Suns wanted to take on O'Neal. Now the Suns have to deal with O'Neal, his hefty contract and try to figure out how they can win with him on the court. Shaq changes the way a team plays. The other problem is that Shaq is changing the way the Suns play. Their fast-paced offense has now been replaced by half-court play around Shaq, which is crazy considering their best players are Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire who can run and gun.
Shaq is still a decent player, but no longer is he even the best center in the league. He's not even the best center in the Western Conference. But you can bet once his contract in Phoenix is up, another team will be willing to sign him on to play for them in the middle. Shaq will become another sad sight and is already starting to. Like Patrick Ewing sitting on the bench for the Orlando Magic, or Hakeem Olajuwon with the Toronto Raptors where he merely took up space.
Shaq will still be a Hall of Famer, but it's these last few years we'll be remembering him for, and not the greatness of what he once was.
