With a Whimper

I'm so very tired, and this day was so long. But ... Shaquille O'Neal has announced he is retiring. I know that my legions of fans would be disappointed if I didn't at least chime in for my two cents worth, so here I am, and here they are.

- Shaq was unparallelled in NBA history with his mix of size and skill, but he also might have been unparallelled in sports history in his mix of size and skill. If you think of the sports in which size is some sort of an advantage (namely basketball, football, and perhaps hockey) can you think of another behemoth of a man who also had a skill set like Shaq's? Put it another way: there have been defensive linemen who were near 400lbs, but none of them were ever three down players. Shaq was a three down player, because he was so good in his areas of expertise (namely interior scoring, defense and rebounding) that his areas of weakness (perimeter game, free throw shooting) were non-issues in his prime. The closest I can think of regarding Shaq comes from a sport where size isn't as big of an issue; baseball, where 6'10" Randy Johnson intimidated from the mound as a behemoth who took care of business. But that's still nowhere near Shaq's class.

- Shaq won four titles, and probably should have taken down two more (2004 when Detroit shocked Kobe/Shaq, and last year when LeBron quite on his team). But he only won one NBA MVP. Are you telling me that Shaq was the most valuable player in the league only once in his career? This fact isn't as bad as MJ only taking down five when he should have had eight or nine, but it is in the same boathouse. Shaq was the best player in the league for the first two Lakers title teams (2000 and 2001) as well as Miami's first referee gifted championship year (2006). He should have three MVPs, which would greatly change the tenor of his discussion. With three MVPs and four championships he would be in the all time great discussion.

- So ... where does Shaq rank? Without going to my office to dig for my paperwork on this, I'd say top fifteen for sure. If I could find the time to finish my top 50 ranking you'd know for sure where I'd put him, but for now I'm comfortable placing him in the top 15 players of all time, with only the following centers ahead of him: Russell, Chamberlin, Olajuwon, Abdul-Jabbar. I think only those four. I'd take Shaq ahead of Robinson, Ewing, and all the lessers from Kareem and Wilt's eras. I don't even know where I'd put George Mikan in that mix, but I'd take Shaq over him as well (even though Mikan might actually be the best comp for Shaq, given his unique size and skill advantage over his competition at the time).

At any rate, it's too bad that Shaq had to go out this way, with a whimper. But, as I discussed last year with Ken Griffey Jr., it's an all too common way for players to go out, especially all time greats. It's just too difficult to walk away from anything when you are on top. When you don't have many more options, it's much more realistic. Shaq could have come back for Boston next year, but what's the likelihood it would have ended any better? I wouldn't be betting that the chance would have been very good.