Shaquille O'Neal Retires From The NBA

After 19 awesome seasons as one of the greatest dominant centers in the NBA, the legendary Shaquille O'Neal has announced his retirement from the game. First drafted as a young wonder player for the Orlando Magic in 1992, Shaquille O'Neal quickly became one of the most beloved players in the NBA because of his friendly and engaging personality and great sense of humor. He's a popular advertising spokesman, sometimes paired with conservative Ben Stein as an odd couple in ads. At 7 foot 1, inch Shaq was truly a dominant center.

One of the few weaknesses of Shaq was his very poor free throw ability. Often teams, would deliberately foul Shaq late in a game as attempt to get the ball back, believing that he would miss one or two shots. This "Hack-A-Shaq" used to visibly anger Shaq a little because it seemed so demeaning and insulting. But, in all other aspects he was a dominating and powerful player, scoring about 30 points a game in most of his early years before older age and injuries began to slow him down considerably. By this last season, Shaq the handwriting on the wall, and just knew that it was time to quit the game and retire as a legend.

Shaq has also worked as a volunteer sheriff, besides his work in a real estate investment company that buys foreclosed homes, and resells them to those who lost the home for more affordable prices, only making a small commission on the transaction. Something especially nice about Shaq was his willingness to often play basketball with any kids that would come to his door. He leaves the game as one of the most beloved players of all time. He will be greatly missed.

What a great player. What a great person.