After 19 seasons in the NBA, six albums, seven movies, numerous TV show, commercial and video game appearances, training to become a police reserve officer, receiving a bachelor’s degree, an MBA and a Ph.D., 28,596 points, 13,099 rebounds, four NBA championships and an NBA MVP, Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal has decided to retire.
O’Neal is one of the few players in the NBA today who battled former stars Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen. He was also instrumental in the molding of many major players today, most notably Dwyane Wade.
O’Neal’s career began in 1985. In an interview with The Times-Picayune, former LSU basketball coach Dale Brown described his first meeting with O’Neal. Brown was speaking in Germany when he met 13-year-old O’Neal and his stepfather, a U.S. Army sergeant.
Brown, stunned at the sight of the 6’7″ 13-year-old, began sending O’Neal workout routines, wanting to help strengthen him and make him faster.
It initially failed — Brown says O’Neal was actually cut from his high school basketball team.
Brown continued to send workout techniques to O’Neal, who eventually led his high school basketball team to a 68-1 record during his two seasons of play.
O’Neal committed to LSU, where Brown was the head coach. While O’Neal had foul trouble in his first games, he quickly became a presence on the court that amounted for many of LSU’s hard fought victories. Kent Lowe, former LSU senior associate sports information director, said in a press release that O’Neal’s antics with the local media made him a hometown favorite.
During his three years at LSU, O’Neal won two SEC Player of the Year awards, was an All-American twice and received the 1991 Adolph Rupp Trophy, given to the men’s basketball player of the year.
O’Neal’s legacy at LSU will be memorialized in a statue to be built later this year in front of the new practice facilities at the PMAC.
O’Neal left LSU in 1991 but promised his mother, Lucille O’Neal, he would return to finish his degree. He did so, skipping a game to attend his graduation ceremony in 2000.
In 1991, O’Neal entered the draft and was chosen first overall to the Orlando Magic. He saw success in Orlando, bringing the team to the Finals in 1995, in which they were swept by the Rockets.
O’Neal had the most success with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he played from 1996 to 2004. While he had an on-off friendship with Kobe Bryant, the Lakers won three championships in a row. He also won NBA MVP in 2000. He stayed with the team until 2004, when he was traded to Miami.
In Miami, O’Neal was a key part of the championship team. O’Neal helped coach the team from the beginning, insisting that Wade was the team’s star and needed backup. With his help, the Heat won their only championship in 2006.
O’Neal played for the Heat until 2008, when he was traded to the Phoenix Suns where he played for two years, followed by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009, and the Boston Celtics in 2010. His final season was derailed by a debilitating leg injury that caused him to miss multiple games.
O’Neal announced his retirement in a video he posted on Twitter on June 1.
Always a joker, in his retirement speech O’Neal pretended to receive an offer to become the general manager of the New York Knicks and said he would really miss the free throws — easily the weakest part of his game. Throughout the conference, he thanked his parents, his coaches and the media — people who he believes brought him to where he is today.
O’Neal’s persona will be missed in the NBA. His presence as a defensive post as well as an offensive weapon is difficult to recreate. His off-the-court antics will also be missed, as well as his numerous nicknames he and fans have created over the years.
And yes, Shaq, your free throws will be missed most of all.
 
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Contact Cameron Warren at [email protected]