I was sad to hear the retirement announcement of Shaquille O'Neal this week. Not that it wasn't time or that I didn't expect it, but in my opinion he will be missed as truly one of the 'good guys' in the NBA. I'm six months older than Shaq and I remember being amazed by him when I was in college and he was playing at LSU. As a matter of fact, I thought he was so good I picked the Tigers to make the NCAA Final Four all three years he played (of course they always lost in the first or second round!). Shaq went on to the NBA and just seemed unstoppable for so many years. I imagine it's similar to the way Kareem and Wilt looked to their generation. More than his dominance though, outside of the game he was a larger-than-life, fun guy and never seemed to take things too seriously...and that's what appealed to me. The NBA will live on with superstars like LeBron, Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose, but none of them are as enjoyable to watch as Shaq. So thanks for the memories #34 and thanks for making basketball fun for the last 20 years.
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