Where will Shaqs legacy be left in a few years?

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Where will Shaqs legacy be left in a few years?

Postby -Young Buck- on Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:13 am

Its no secret that Shaquille Oneal wants to be mentioned with Russell, Jabbar, and Wilt. Those three men are legends, but where does Shaq fit in? Shaq has 3 championship rings from LA, and 1 from Miami. Its no secret that he wanted to come to Miami because of Wade. But was it so Wade could carry him in his final years? In these finals Shaq was anything but Shaq. He seemed more of a liability to the team, then the force we are used to. Shaq averaged 13ppg, 10rpg, and 0.8bpg in these finals, not to mention his horrible FT shooting. Shaq never seemed dominant, or a big factor in the series. It was always Wade who took over in the game when they needed baskets. Or it was many of the "role players", if you can call them that, who came up big. Zo, Payton, Walker, Posey, even Haslem seemed to have a bigger role then Shaq. Maybe it was the quantity of talent that had Shaq scoring low, and not needed as much as before. Miami did have a lot of talent. But when we look back on this, even if Shaq wins two more championships with Wade and the Heat. Do you think that these stats, if he continues to perform this way, will hurt his legacy more then help? Sure some people measure a player by how many rings he has, but even Robert Horry has a ton of those. We all know he wasnt the force that won those rings. Is Shaq going to be remembered as a player who was THE MAN in LA, but turned into just another role player in Miami?
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Postby Mayerhendrix on Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:42 am

One cannot forget that Shaq's amazing play in the Conference Finals was what got the Heat to the Finals. He deserves some credit on the team and is one of the league's most dominant centers, if not one of the best players anymore.

Still, ship him out for a top draft pick in a year or two.
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Postby eisfeld on Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:49 am

- Barkley had bad stats in Houston but will be remembered as one of the greatest players in Phoenix.
- Ewing sucked in Orlando, but is still a Knicks legend.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's stats were decreasing at the end of his career.

Shaq was great in Orlando, even greater with the Lakers and now he's good with the Heat. You can't expect a player being dominant his whole career. Shaq is old, but still effective. His stats will decrease more till he retires. But this does not hurt his legacy.
He will be remembered as one of the best centers and big-man in the league.

And my personal opinion is, you can't measure a player only by his stats. There's more than numbers out there. There's experience, success, leadership etc. too. And this makes a player a legend. Or do you say Mike James is going to be a star because he became a 20+ guy in Toronto?
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Postby NNpF on Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:43 am

Shaq was double teamed every time he touched the ball.

The only time Shaq could get points is off of offensive rebounds and free throws, but since he's such a terrible free throw shooter his only points basically came off offensive rebounds.

If Wade was doubled every time he touched the ball do you think he would have had the same numbers? No.

Why didn't you bring up the fact about how many points Miami scores off of a Shaq kick-out or he dumps a pass into the post for an easy two or a foul?

Yes Dwyane Wade is an amazing player, but the Heat still wouldn't be celebrating right now if it wasn't for Shaq.
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Postby Mayerhendrix on Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:47 am

eisfeld wrote:- Barkley had bad stats in Houston but will be remembered as one of the greatest players in Phoenix.
- Ewing sucked in Orlando, but is still a Knicks legend.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's stats were decreasing at the end of his career.

Shaq was great in Orlando, even greater with the Lakers and now he's good with the Heat. You can't expect a player being dominant his whole career. Shaq is old, but still effective. His stats will decrease more till he retires. But this does not hurt his legacy.
He will be remembered as one of the best centers and big-man in the league.

And my personal opinion is, you can't measure a player only by his stats. There's more than numbers out there. There's experience, success, leadership etc. too. And this makes a player a legend. Or do you say Mike James is going to be a star because he became a 20+ guy in Toronto?


Shaq is still the face of the Heat, and their overall source of inspiration.
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Postby #12 on Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:49 am

Shaq now is like the 80's Kareem to Magic. Wade can not win a championship without Shaq, and Shaq can not win a championship without Wade
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Postby Riot on Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:20 am

NJNetsFan wrote:Still, ship him out for a top draft pick in a year or two.


They won't be able to trade Shaquille O'Neal for a top draft pick in a few years. Hell, they wouldn't be able to do that right now. First thing is his contract is too large and secondly he is too old. He'll retire in 3 years or so and his skills aren't where they use to be. It would be pointless for a bad team (who has a top pick) to trade for him because they would lose all their salary cap space and a top draft pick.
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Postby eisfeld on Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:28 am

NJNetsFan wrote:
eisfeld wrote:- Barkley had bad stats in Houston but will be remembered as one of the greatest players in Phoenix.
- Ewing sucked in Orlando, but is still a Knicks legend.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's stats were decreasing at the end of his career.

Shaq was great in Orlando, even greater with the Lakers and now he's good with the Heat. You can't expect a player being dominant his whole career. Shaq is old, but still effective. His stats will decrease more till he retires. But this does not hurt his legacy.
He will be remembered as one of the best centers and big-man in the league.

And my personal opinion is, you can't measure a player only by his stats. There's more than numbers out there. There's experience, success, leadership etc. too. And this makes a player a legend. Or do you say Mike James is going to be a star because he became a 20+ guy in Toronto?


Shaq is still the face of the Heat, and their overall source of inspiration.


That's what I'm talking about!
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Postby Andrew on Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:08 pm

I don't think it will hurt his legacy. Oscar Robertson didn't win a title until he joined the Bucks and took a backseat to a young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and on top of that missed the playoffs four times in his ten years as a Cincinnati Royal, yet a lot of people consider him the greatest of all-time due to him being Mr Triple Double. As eisfeld pointed out, Kareem is still seen as a great centre even though Magic became the leader of the Lakers as the 80s progressed while Barkley and Ewing did not finish their careers on a high note but their legacies had long since been cemented in NBA history.

Shaq has already done that by winning three titles and Finals MVPs with the Lakers. He's had his run atop the NBA and been a top five centre for most (if not all) of his career. Right now, age and injuries are catching up to him and he can't be that player we've come to know every single night. The Mavericks did a fine job defensively on him, though I'd suggest three or four years ago he might have been able to overcome it a little easier. But he was still a factor, even if his stats don't show it. After all, he wouldn't command that kind of defensive attention if he wasn't still a threat.

Like Kareem, Shaq's at a point where he can round out his legacy as a player who knows he's getting on in years and can't contribute the way he used to as often as he used to and is settling into a supporting role while a new star player takes the lead. But like Kareem, his past accomplishments and the standard he set cannot be erased by taking on that lesser, but still significant role with the Heat.
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