Shaq retires

[jacksonianmarch]

19 years, shoe in HOFer, one of the all-time greats and probably the most unstoppable force on the hardwood in his hay-day. But I loved the way he carried himself. Said what was on his mind, lovable, happy, always trying to make people laugh and someone who loved being around people. He was also a very generous man. Good luck in your retirement Shaq. The only sad thing is that at his size, he probably wont be able to enjoy his retirement for too long....

[Palodios]

One day, maybe sooner than we all expect, Shaq will win an Oscar.

[Wasatch]

Never cared for him.

[boston22407]

bye shaq!

[Jasonbay44]

In his prime, he was probably the most dominant player Ive ever seen, he was almost literally unstoppable. A definite hall of famer and I cant wait to see what he does of the court now, I expect to see him be a broadcaster or an actor or something. lol

[Keeper]

Larger than life figure with a larger than life personality. The big man style of play bores me to death, including Shaq. But he was hilarious and the most dominant center I've ever seen. Like I said before, when the greats are relegated to role players, it's time to retire.

[jacksonianmarch]

Thing is, he came into the league when Jordan was in the midst of his first 3-peat. He helped transition the league between the 3-peats and was the next ambassador when Jordan actually hung them up. He was awesome. And I hope, sincerely, that he does something that we all can see on a daily basis.

[Emmz]

Shaq is probably the best center most of us will ever see. Obviously if you saw Wilt or Kareem, they're legends, but for most of us, those kinds of centers are rare. He wasn't just some clumsy big fat guy, he was always the strongest guy on the court, and he was agile. He even had finesse. He had some pretty good moves in the paint. It's not like he was completely based off of the backdown-dunk strategy, or just running people over, he had good moves.

 

I'm also gonna miss how he talked to the media, funny guy, lovable character as well. Shaq's one of my favorite players ever.

 

Obviously he's not the best shooter, but people don't give him enough credit for how good he is close to the basket.

[Keeper]

I think Shaq is the most dominant center I've ever seen. But in terms of who was the better all-around center, it would have to be The Dream hands down. I wish I could have seen more of him in his prime.

[Wasatch]

Bill Russell

[Flynnatic10]

I hope he joins Charles Barkley on the halftime show, lmao

[Divinity]

Prime Shaq > Prime Russell

[Wasatch]

Prime Shaq > Prime Russell

 

Not in my book. Shaq was just a big motherf***er in the middle. Russell was an all a round team player, he f***ed up Wilt, Willis, Lew, Nate, Wes...... Was a great passer for a big guy, awesome rebounder......Also has way more championship rings then Shaq could dream of.

[Wasatch]

Also, as big a motherf***er he was, how could he not take up a bunch of space in the middle. He sucked as a shooter, could not hit a f***ing free-throw to save his ass. I'm willing to say he could not throw an outlet pass to save his ass. Bill also hustled his ass off many f***ing times down the court on offense and especially on defense, I do not recall Shaq doing that, he was a lazy ass motherf***er. I've seen Russell get rebounds and be one of the first motherf***ers down the other end to help on offense. One of the Best Centers every in the f***ing game. Shaq has nothing on Russell.

[Wasatch]

f*** Dave Cowens was a better player than Shaq.

[Wasatch]

Shaq had the size over all center's before his time, but played like s*** compared to many centers before him. Size = Shaq that's it. Shaq had no hustle in him at all. Willis Reed was better than Shaq, Wes Unseld was better than Shaq.

[Divinity]

It is hard to project how Russell would've translated to today's game. Bill Simmons poses the question of how he would've defended Kareem/Shaq/Dwight Howard/etc., and it's a good one. The opponents Russell faced were routinely several inches shorter and the only opponent he faced during his era that routinely went to the basket was Wilt.

 

Also championships are a team achievement, using your logic, Robert Horry is better than Michael Jordan

[Emmz]

Oh my god, people who say that Shaq was just big should not say Russell was the better player, seriously. Russell was a man among toddlers when he played. Seriously, he was several inches taller, and infinitely more athletic than everyone else back then. It's not as difficult to put up huge numbers when you're 6'10 and athletic, playing clumsy little white guys.

 

They plaid in different eras, it's impossible to properly compare them, but we all know Shaq would have been impossible to stop in the 1960s, even more dominant than Chamberlain.

 

Shaq was a man amongst men, he was just a much, much more powerful man than everyone else. Don't ever say Shaq was just some clumsy fat guy who clogged up the lanes, he was VERY agile for a guy his size, and while he was no-good from anywhere outside of the paint, neither were almost any other great center. That's what centers do, they use their size and strength to overpower their opponents, Shaq was just more overpowering than the others. Why wouldn't you use that to your advantage? It's like blaming Ichiro for using his speed to get hits, and faulting him for it. Totally ridiculous.

[Emmz]

Shaq had the size over all center's before his time' date=' but played like s*** compared to many centers before him. Size = Shaq that's it. Shaq had no hustle in him at all. Willis Reed was better than Shaq, Wes Unseld was better than Shaq.[/quote']

 

You're off your rocker pops.

[Wasatch]

But Russell contributed more to the team than Shaq. Wes Unseld was an awesome rebounder, probably more rebounds that Wilt or Reed or Russell, he knew how to box out with that big ass, lol Right now off the top of my head I cannot come up with some other centers of the 60s. Basically player for player's abilities/efforts. Russell was all around a better player than Shaq (HUSTLE, PASSING, SHOOTING, DEFENSE), again Shaq took up SPACE that's it, Sorry.

[Wasatch]

Sorry, it's my fault for being older and seeing these guy's play. Let me know how things are going in 20-30 years for ya. Let me know how active you are in life. I'm curious to see what you are doing for fun at that age. LOL

[Emmz]

It is hard to project how Russell would've translated to today's game. Bill Simmons poses the question of how he would've defended Kareem/Shaq/Dwight Howard/etc., and it's a good one. The opponents Russell faced were routinely several inches shorter and the only opponent he faced during his era that routinely went to the basket was Wilt.

 

Also championships are a team achievement, using your logic, Robert Horry is better than Michael Jordan

 

His two points for Russell:

 

1. He has championships.

 

2. Shaq can't shoot.

 

To the first, I've said this every other time people bring up championships into an individuals argument. It's a team accomplishment, even Trent Dilfer won a super bowl, so he's better than Marino or something.

 

To the second, I just remind them how great a shooter Charles Barkley was, Olajuwon, Duncan, Malone, some of the greatest players of all time couldn't make baskets out side of the paint really.

[Emmz]

Sorry' date=' it's my fault for being older and seeing these guy's play. Let me know how things are going in 20-30 years for ya. Let me know how active you are in life. I'm curious to see what you are doing for fun at that age. LOL[/quote']

 

It was a joke pops, hence the smiley, no needs to get all defensive on me.

 

Also, almost every old fart who comes here tells us how we're wrong because we didn't see it happen *spits in bucket*.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Not in my book. Shaq was just a big motherf***er in the middle. Russell was an all a round team player' date=' he f***ed up Wilt, Willis, Lew, Nate, Wes...... Was a great passer for a big guy, awesome rebounder......Also has way more championship rings then Shaq could dream of.[/quote']

 

He also played in an era where there were only two title contenders in the league at a given time. Yeah, what a gauntlet they ran through for all those championships.

 

Jeez, put Ben Wallace back on that Celtics team and see how many awards/titles he racks up. Same type of player, undersized, quick, excellent defense and shot blocking.

 

Also' date=' as big a motherf***er he was, how could he not take up a bunch of space in the middle. He sucked as a shooter, could not hit a f***ing free-throw to save his ass. I'm willing to say he could not throw an outlet pass to save his ass. Bill also hustled his ass off many f***ing times down the court on offense and especially on defense, I do not recall Shaq doing that, he was a lazy ass motherf***er. I've seen Russell get rebounds and be one of the first motherf***ers down the other end to help on offense. One of the Best Centers every in the f***ing game. Shaq has nothing on Russell.[/quote']

 

Bull. s***. Both Shaq and Russell were sub 60% free throw shooters. So was Wilt. You have zero argument there.

 

Shaq was so much better of a scorer than Russell, it's hilarious. Shaq in his prime was UNGUARDABLE on offense, whereas Russell never even had plays ran for him and just got his points on offensive rebounds and cleanups. Shaq was also a damn good defensive center before ~2003 when he got injured and started to decline. The drop-off from Russell's defense to Shaq's defense is a LOT smaller than the one from Shaq's offensive skill to Russell's.

 

Take off the green glasses, for f***'s sake.

 

f*** Dave Cowens was a better player than Shaq.

 

Lol no.

 

Shaq had the size over all center's before his time' date=' but played like s*** compared to many centers before him. Size = Shaq that's it. Shaq had no hustle in him at all. Willis Reed was better than Shaq, Wes Unseld was better than Shaq.[/quote']

 

This is hilarious. All you do is dance around the fact that Shaq was many times more skilled than pretty much all these other guys (save Wilt). Your entire argument consists of '_____ f***ing HUSTLED blablabla SHAQ'S f***ING LAZY blablabla', as if any of that s*** matters more than actual skill. You have less than nothing. You must think Brian Scalabrine is the next coming of Jesus, if you actually buy into this fluff garbage that much.

 

Again, lose the green glasses.

[Emmz]

I still can't believe he said all these guys were superior to Shaq, even my cousin, who was arguing the same "Shaq can't shoot" thing admitted Shaq is top four. You're pretty much saying Shaq is just some dude who was big and powerful, so he just dunked on people all day. We all know that physical advantages don't mean anything unless you're very talented. He's one of the most efficient scorers in the history of basketball.

[Divinity]

I wonder if he knows Russell shot only 44% as a center and never averaged more than 18 points.

[Emmz]

I wonder if he knows Russell shot only 44% as a center and never averaged more than 18 points.

 

Russell is vastly overrated, really, he is. I know he was an all-time great, known for his defense, etc. However, there's some people, like old Celtics fans, who'll tell you he's the best center of all time. I respect him for what he was, and that's not his shooting abilities, it's that he was THE shutdown defender of his era.

[snydersminipretzels]

Shaq is easily a top 10 player of all-time. Dave Cowens? Wes Unseld? Someone definitely has some blind rage against someone they've never met.

[Emmz]

I can't name 10 players who are definitively superior players all-time to Shaq.

 

I can say Jordan is definitely the greatest, but after that it's all pretty close. You've got so much to choose from, but I'd probably put Shaq in my top ten.

[yankees228]

The idea that the only thing Shaq had going for him was size is just flat out false. He was incredibly agile for someone his size, and had excellent touch around the rim.