The Big Diesel Calls It A Career

The man that played a total of 1423 regular season and playoff basketball games, on six different NBA teams, won four NBA championships -- three with the Lakers and one with the Heat and scored 28,596 career points is finally calling it a career.

The 7 ft 1 in known as the man of steel, announced to his fans June 1, 2011 on his twitter account that he was retiring from the NBA after 19 seasons. Shaq established himself as the power in the pant where he was known to break a few backboards in his time. However, we will remember him most as the ultimate performer with a charismatic smile and a force to be reckoned with in the pant. "Shaq had a long and amazing career, with a huge impact both on and off the court," Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss said in a statement released by the team. "His contributions were significant to the entire NBA, but we specifically appreciate what he did with and what he meant to the Lakers during his eight years with us. We have three championships that we wouldn't have won without him, and we will forever be grateful for his significant contributions to those teams."

Shaq will definitely go down as arguably one of the top five centers to ever play in the NBA.

By Walt Thompson



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