Shaquille O'Neal: Should the Lakers Retire Benedict Shaq's Jersey?
Traitor. Merriam Webster defines the term as: one who betrays another's trust or is false to an obligation or duty.
If Benedict Arnold epitomizes the term, perhaps too so does Shaquille O'Neal.
Arnold was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. Because of the way he changed sides his name quickly became a byword in the United States for treason or betrayal.
By joining the Boston Celtics, Shaquille O'Neal has sunk to this new low and his legacy will be the one to suffer for it.
Which begs the question: Can Shaq's jersey be retired as a Laker?
O'Neal has always been entertaining if not beloved. The gentle giant with a larger than life personality and a smile to match is, as much as ever, his own worst enemy.
It started with the jilting of the Orlando Magic for the star studded shores of Hollywood and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Nothing wrong with exploring your options during free agency, it's a players right. It stung at the time and angered Orlando fans beyond all reasoning. For O'Neal, this was but the first of many such betrayals...
In the beginning of O'Neal's stint with the Lakers, everything was peaches and cream. Winning does that.
When the battle of egos began between Shaq and Kobe Bryant (much as it happened with Hardaway in Orlando), it signaled the beginning of the end.
O'Neal made a number of infamous exclamations such as “I got hurt on company time, so I'll heal on company time,” and numerous shouts of “Pay Me,” to Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss. O'Neal was simply doing what he does best...
Shaq was subsequently traded to the Miami Heat who went on to win the '06 championship.
When the team began to fall apart Shaq was traded in an act of Pat Riley's benevolence to the Phoenix Suns. O'Neal quickly began tearing down his former relationships.
It wasn't enough that a year earlier he slammed former coach Stan Van Gundy. He took things to new heights by disparaging his former teammates, the training and medical staff, and lastly, the architect of his arrival in Miami—Riley.
Said Riley, "It's sad that he says those things. We shared so much here, together, for three years, good and bad, 3 1/2 years. I just think it's sad that he's got to do that. He can do whatever he wants to do to me. That's OK, I don't care. But those men, they tried…That upsets me more than anything."
Los Angeles fans simply shrugged—the collective equivalent of "I told you so." Shaq being Shaq. If no one else knew what Shaq was about, they quickly found out. Silver tongued if not utterly dismissive.
O'Neal then embarked on a failed experiment in Phoenix in which he vociferously demanded the ball only to see Phoenix fail to make the playoffs for the first time in 2009.
Next stop, Cleveland.
Where to much fanfare O'Neal joined the universally lauded King, LeBron James. With a league best 61 wins, they sauntered into the second round of the playoffs simply to be bounced out unceremoniously by the Celtics.
Subsequently, King James took his talents to South Beach. What was the self proclaimed Diesel to do?
You see, when O'Neal left Los Angeles for stints in Miami, Phoenix and Cleveland, no one really batted an eye. None of those teams have any real history. They hadn't won anything; so, in effect it was harmless.
This was a former champion doing as many aging stars do: playing out their years in service to the betterment of an up and coming organization, right? Not exactly.
Shaq is/was ring chasing.
In Miami, he managed to win his fourth ring on the coattails of Dwayne Wade. However, when the team was a shell of its former self, he bailed for greener pastures—only they weren't so green.
After Bryant won his fourth and fifth as a Laker amplifying his legacy, O'Neal had no choice but to hear about it. Said Bryant after winning his fifth championship, “Just one more than Shaq...You can take that to the bank.”
And this was perhaps, the tipping point. Because of his insane quest to match Kobe, because of his ego, he's made a deal with the devil—The Boston Celtics.
No other organization is as fierce a rival to the Lakers and their storied history within the league. Just ask Jerry West...
The Lakers suffered unimaginable defeats at the hands of the Celtics throughout the 60's, denying West, Wilt Chamberlain and other countless greats their chance at the Larry O'Brien trophy.
Each and every time it was/has been the Celtics who've stood in the Lakers way.
The 80's were singularly signified by the rivalry that was Bird and Magic/the Celtics and the Lakers.
They are synonymous with rivalry, forever intertwined. Each team plotting, planning and scheming to overcome the other in fated, annual meetings for the world championship.
If there's one thing Shaq's never been a part of, it's that.
Sure, he's involved in a de facto sort of way having been a Laker great, but he never had to battle the Celtics. They weren't very good back then. In fact, they were awful. He's involved now.
From the rafters at the Staples Center hang 16 championship banners.
With them, the jerseys of many of the most celebrated names in basketball history —Chamberlain, Baylor, Goodrich, Abdul-Jabbar, Worthy, Johnson and West.
A few years ago it was a given that O'Neal's name would one day join them, now I'm not so sure.
By joining the Celtics (whether or not he's past his prime), he's opened some old and very deep seeded wounds.
Lakers don't become Celtics...at least not the great ones.
Perhaps, he simply doesn't understand. Worse, perhaps he doesn't care.
One thing is certain, regardless of all of the records he's responsible for as a Laker, there will be a lot of debate about retiring Benedict Shaq's jersey in the rafters alongside the Laker greats who fought tirelessly and valiantly against the scourge that is the Boston Celtics.
