A champion player and one of the all-time greats. In his prime, was unstoppable in the early noughties. He - not Kobe - led the Lakers to 3 straight titles. As good as he was, he was entertaining too. Will be missed and here's hoping he stays involved with the game and doesn't just become a cop, though that would be interesting itself. Give the guy a reality TV show!

Took the term "Power Centre" to a whole new level. He is the last of the great centres of the NBA following the earlier retirements of Ewing, Olajuwon & David Robinson.

loved the show shaq put on at the all star game a couple of years ago with the mask and the dancing.

too cool

I'm bit of a pureist so I was never a fan of Shaq's barge and dunk game. However their can be no doubt about his achievements in the game. He had a great carrer and good luck to him. He is the last of the players to retire of the list of the 50 greatest players to play the game.

Most dominant big man ever. One of my idols in the game of Basketball.

Shame his fitness was his downfall. Agree w/ Moses about the LA title situation.

Hope he does end up a color commentator one day. Preferably not with the Charles, EJ and Kenny; I'd rather he be a game announcer w/ Jeff Van Gundy. :P

I agree with LC. There were some great centres in the league when he was drafted but with his power, speed and athleticism brought a whole extra dimension to the position.

I think this weekend I'll need to crank out some of my NBA tapes from the 90s like Rising Stars, Super Slams 2 and In the Paint...relive some of the moments of a HOF career.

Lets clear up the whole shaq led lakers to the 3 peat thing.
No doubt shaq clearly led the lakers to the first of the three peat titles.
But I would say the last two if you compare individual stats between both Shaq and Kobe they are certainly not that different.
I would say that for the last two titles they were at 'worst' level or Shaq marginally in front in terms of production.
The last two years of those chapionships mirror the production levels of Lebron and Wade this year.
Granted Shaq played better in the finals but apart from that their production was almost the same throughout the season and first part of the playoffs!!!

I agree with Tripple. Shaq was certainly the leader on those championship teams with the Lakers and he deserved to win those Finals MVP's. No doubt.

This was especially true in 2000. Shaq had never been better and proved to never be better than he was in 2000. Kobe was just starting to come into his own but was still very inexperienced. The 2000 title was all Shaq's. He was motivated, in good shape, healthy and was a total monster.

But 2001 and 2002 saw the beginning of Shaq's physical condition decline. He was still the main man on the team, was still incredibly dominant but his commitment, work ethic and conditioning began to waver at times. It was the one-two punch of Kobe and Shaq that won the 2001 and 2002 titles for the Lakers. That's the reason they went 15-1 during the 2001 the playoffs. They were just a truly devastating combination of players. Of course we know that didn't last. But when the Shaq-Kobe duo worked, the Lakers were one tough team.

Anonymous, Shaq was mearly a role player when he played for Miami! Without Wade in those finals he most certainly would not have a 4th ring.

I agrre with tripple, shaq was no doubt the dominant player in the 2000 season, but the last two seasons of their 3 peat championship run both kobe and shaq had equal impact! And Kobe was certianly more consistant during those two years.

If you look at the scoring stats for 2001 and the 2002 seasons, kobe and shaqs line are alomost the same!

Exciting new sixers signing. ?

Shaq was amazing in 2000. The best season of his career.

Anonymous, Shaq was mearly a role player when he played for Miami! Without Wade in those finals he most certainly would not have a 4th ring.

Sad to see the big fella go

I guess this is a reminder that every time one of the greats retires it means we are all getting that bit older.

Damn I remember when he was picked in the top50 and people were saying he was too young...

Thanks for the memories big guy

I wasn't saying Shaq wasn't the key reasons for the 2001 and 2002 championships, I'm just not prepared to downplay Kobe's impact on those two titles.

Shaq totally dominated the NBA Finals from 2000 to 2002. He simply destroyed the opposition, no question. He was the obvious Finals MVP in those three series.

But there is one problem with looking at the NBA Finals statistics in isolation. The East in the early 2000's was incredibly weak and the West was incredibly stacked. It was widely expected that whoever managed to get out of the West was going to have a much easier time of it in the Finals. The 76ers (who played in the Finals in 2001) and the Nets (who played in 2002) probably wouldn't have made it out of the second round in the West. They weren't bad teams but just did not have the talent that the best 4-5 teams in the West had. The NBA Finals in those days were an anti-climax after the Western Conference Finals.

But Shaq was great against those tougher teams in the West too. Because he was a great player. I'm not saying he wasn't. But Kobe played at an exceptionally high level against those teams too.

The East teams, while talented, were so deeply flawed that the Lakers just had to get the ball to Shaq and let him do his thing. It basically was that simple. Sure, Shaq ate up the Blazers, Kings and Spurs too. But Kobe was doing his thing at a very high level against those teams too, don't discount that.

It takes more than 1 man to win the NBA finals. There is no way LA would have won those titles if one of those guys was missing. The same with the Miami one, Wade was the better player but without Shaq they wouldnt have won that series.

2000 Finals- 38ppg @ 61%, 16.7rpg, 2.67bpg, 2.3apg

That is some ridicolously domninant stats. Especially given the fact that he couldn't shoot FT's..Imagine what he would have averaged (over this series and is entire career) if he could shoot them like Dirk.

I really enjoyed Shaq's persona..such a good guy for the league in terms of always providing fans entertainment off and on the court.

A funny moment that I remember well was when Craig Sager asked him what he was going to do after the playoffs and he replied 'Buy you a new suit..Thats horrible..matter of fact thats HORRIAWFUL'. hahahaha.
Gonna miss you big fella