One of the greatest basketball players of all time, Shaquille O’Neal, expressed his dissatisfaction with his time with the Boston Celtics and how lackluster his time there was in comparison to the rest of his career.
Not in his place. When questioned about his time in Boston, O’Neal told NBA analyst JJ Redick on “The Old Man & The Three” Podcast, “Him is 28 (points) and 10 (rebounds)” (h/t NESN). In Boston, (Expletive) averaged nine points. I thought I was stealing from the people. When they called me back and said, “Hey, man,” I felt awful. You are owed $1.5 (million). “(expletive) keep it,” I said.
O’Neal was very popular because he was thought of as an utter beast who took responsibility for not succeeding as much as he could have—he was accused of “robbing the people” because of his poor performance and for not collecting the money that was still in his name.
Even though he was a 38-year-old veteran, he never lost his competitive spirit.
During his best years, O’Neal shared the court with the legendary Kobe Bryant, with whom he would go on to win three NBA titles in a row from 2000 to 2002. As demonstrated below versus Chris Dudley, the “Big Aristotle” was renowned for using his overwhelming size to force his opponents to the ground and for his unparalleled cacophony of chirping.
Shaquille O’Neal’s Boston Celtics tenure has become social media meme
It must be hard for O’Neal to talk about his life in Boston, the team he ended his career with before jumping around from the Heat, Suns, and Cleveland. “The Diesel” did not have much pep in his step toward the end of his playing days (an understatement) as he accumulated only 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds through 20.3 minutes per game.
The dropoff in production has been jokingly used to describe players’ careers as a form of “falling off” or “losing their touch.” Carmelo Anthony is a great example, saying his time in a Houston Rockets jersey was like O’Neal’s in Boston (h/t Courtside Buzz). Other non-basketball-related examples follow the same format: a once-great performer who is a shell of their former self.
“Big Baryshnikov” (yes, he has a ton of nicknames) ultimately feels bad about underperforming, but that should not take away from the legendary career he put up. He’s still arguably one of the best centers to play in the NBA, if not the greatest.
Regardless of everything that went down, this does not define O’Neal’s career by any means. It’s a great example of “it happens to the best of them.”
