Jermaine O'Neal- A New Start

Four years ago, a very nasty incident happened. It began with Ron Artest fouling Ben Wallace, and after that things became escalated and well, you know the rest. Things changed in many many ways on that day, some were bigger ways, some were more obvious than others.

One way, was the change in direction of Jermaine O'Neal's career. The Pacers were never a contender again, resulting in the remnants of a team that they are now. Jermaine's body began to break up, and he missed long stretches of several seasons. The critics whispered that, with not much of a team to return to, Jermaine wasn't putting full effort into either his comeback or his time on the court.But despite this, Jermaine O'Neal was still the face of the Pacers organisation for over half a decade.

Because, before the very nasty incident, Jermaine O'Neal was a very nasty player.

He was, in a word, a beast.

After spending his early years as a garbage-time junkie over in Portland, the minute he landed in Indianapolis, Jermaine started coming into his own, starting with winning the NBA's most improved player award in 2001-2002. His numbers were huge, and soon the wins came as-well, with the Pacers improving almost every year.

He came up big in the playoffs also, but the team struggled.

Jermaine O'Neal's best year came in 2004. He was easily within the top 3 M.V.P candidates (in another year, he very easily could have won it). He lead his team to the best record in the NBA, the only team to top 60 wins with the help of Ron Artest as the defensive player of the year.

J.O had it all. He used both hands, had a solid jumper, was a great passer, a huge force on the defensive end, a team leader and the heart and soul of the Pacers. Jermaine lead the team to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they ran into the title-bound Detroit Pistons.

Side Note: I have a particular memory from this series, I'm not sure what game it was, but Jermaine was dominating, and this was punctuated when Ron Artest bricked a three, which rebounded into the middle of the lane, just above the semi-circle. As Ben Wallace's hands began to close on the errant rebound, when J.O came literally out of nowhere, caught the ball in mid-air with his left hand and slammed it home. This was a game in Detroit, and the crowd still went wild.

The series was close and went to a game 6. O'Neal went down with a strained knee, and yet still managed to get 20 and 10. Still, the game was lost, and the Pacers never returned to those heights.

But anyway. You know all that right? You didn't come here to read what you can read on a Wikipedia Bio right? No, because now something else has changed.

Jermaine O'Neal has flown North for the season.

In one of the larger trades of the off-season, Jermaine finally left his Pacers to join Chris Bosh's Toronto Raptors. Instantly, this forms one of the best frontlines in the East, and dramatically improves the team overall.

The Raptors were already a team on the rise, despite a slight dropoff last season. However, with this trade they solved two of their major problems. They made their choice for a point guard and have acquired a solid man upfront that compliments Chris Bosh.

Oh by the way, this is all potential.

Jermaine O'Neal dropped off the radar considerably since the nasty aforementioned incident, and it remains to be seen whether he can still be effective and avoid the injury bug.

Of course, I don't think anyone expects Jermaine to be the same player that he was in 2004, or even in 2005 where he averaged his career high 24 points per game despite appearing in 44 games. No-one really expects regular jaw-dropping putback dunks or a 55-point game.

But then, the Raptors don't need that. They have some guy called Chris for that. What they need from Jermaine is around 15ppg, around 10rpg and to be a defensive stopper, a force on the interior. He can also bring experience and leadership, he can show Chris the ropes, given how he is in a situation almost identical to that that Jermaine was in just a few years ago.

If Jermaine can manage this, the Raptors will be a great force in the East. A championship...doubtful, but they should definitely be able to get past the first round and clinch something above the fourth seed.

But more than that, Jermaine will re-invent himself. He'll be playing on a playoff bound team, playing next to an all-star (maybe even two), both of which has not happened to him for a while now.

Really, if injuries and bad teams and headlines about off-court issues hadn't surrounded his career, we would all think about Jermaine very very differently. I don't know if he'd be quite up there with KG and Duncan, but he would be pretty dam close. He would be in that conversation of this generation's stars, the guys who make up the NBA as we know it.

Don't forget, a few years ago, you would have never even thought of anyone else occupying that power forward spot on the East All-Star team.

He might not be the same player, but it is success that he truly wants, and what most people want for him. If he can become at least relevant in the East, well he gets his second chance to make his mark on the NBA.

And he will finally be back on the radar.