Shaquille O’Neal will go down as one of the greatest pure “showmen” ever to play in professional sports. It’s hard to say that anyone tops him in the NBA particularly in this age of instant access from a global perspective.
Earlier in the season when the Toronto Raptors were in Boston to battle the Celtics it was Ray Allen who sat in his stall talking about how O’Neal has suddenly showed some of the other Celtics how to enjoy their stardom and not take things too seriously. Yet at the same time, the “Big Shamrock” also demonstrated what it was like to be professional when it was time to go to work and win games and ultimately why he has four championship rings.
So you can’t be surprised to see this as O’Neal leads one of the most famous orchestra’s in the world. Oh yes, and his choice of songs for the finale is one he hopes will foreshadow the Celtics season.
***
The New York Knicks have been atop everyone’s list of surprises to this point in the season but what about the other end of the spectrum? Which teams have been the most disappointing?
Maybe the expectations were too high but for my money, I’m puzzled by the performance of the Detroit Pistons. They still have remnants of the championship team and squad that went to the Eastern Conference finals for six straight seasons. Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and albeit an aging but still formidable defensively Ben Wallace are still in Motown and with Rodney Stuckey and Jason Maxiell young players ready to step in, I just thought the Pistons would be further ahead of the curve.
And now this news that some on the inside say that Richard Hamilton is becoming a distraction and has quit on the team, is just not a good sign.
Of course Hamilton responded saying that it’s not true and he is disappointed with some having those sentiments. Regardless, Hamilton will have to work his way back into the starting line-up as Ben Gordon currently has that spot.
***
The New Jersey Nets are the team most closely linked, through media reports at least, to Carmelo Anthony, but not so fast. The rumours about Anthony’s seemingly imminent departure from Denver keep taking on different slants. If you believe this it sure seems like the Dallas Mavericks are in the running as are the Houston Rockets and the Orlando Magic with the New York Knicks still watching and waiting thinking that Melo may just fall in their lap.
***
Here is something I’m all for if the players try to negotiate this into the new Collective Bargaining Agreement and that is no games on Christmas Day or at least only marquee contests. Phil Jackson has spoken and the “Zen Master” is not happy. It used to be Christmas Day games were special and there may be only one or two with big-name teams running on a limited stage.
But recently, that hasn’t been the case as the stage has become pretty crowded and in some cases with teams that play small parts in the grand scheme of things. With all due respect to Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City vs. Denver doesn’t qualify in these eyes as a feature game. It’s a good game but not one worthy of being a holiday matchup. The same goes for Portland vs. Golden State.
Sorry Phil but you are the defending champs so your tilt against Miami should be the only game televised. In fact, I would love to see the league move to having only one game that day and it should be a rematch of the finals from the previous season.