Has there been a bigger decline in play in recent memory than Heat center Shaquille O’Neal?

Not even a year and a half ago it was Shaq (not Dwayne Wade) who led a Miami city to its first ever NBA Championship.

Now? He doesn’t even get drafted in fantasy basketball.

His fall from grace is reflected in his team’s horrible record to start the season. Even at full strength, which isn’t much beyond Shaq and Dwayne, they don’t scare the moribund Grizzlies.

Age has simply caught up with the big guy.

While he is certainly declining it’s still not something to be laughed at, because it could be far worse, he could have Eddie Curry’s career. But he’s slower than ever, hardly can jump, and god he sucks even more at free throws.

Check out these numbers from the 02-03 season with the Lakers:

Year

Team

G

GS

MPG

FG%

FT%

OFF

DEF

RPG

APG

SPG

BPG

TO

PF

PPG

02-03

LAL

67

66

37.8

0.574

0.622

3.9

7.2

11.1

3.1

0.6

2.4

2.93

3.40

27.5

Guy was a beast house. 27 points, 11 boards, 3 blocks, 3 assists, and shot 57%.

Now he’s throwing up 14 points, 7 boards, 2 blocks, and barely 1 assist.

It’s sad to see possibly the best center ever drop from the ranks so hard.

Imagine Tim Duncan waking up tomorrow and sucking the rest of the year, that’s what it feels like.

Shaq thru the years:

Back when Shaq could dribble a ball up court

When Kobe wasn’t having sex with girls in Denver, him and Shaq were great partners

Looks like Shaq’s smuggling Buicks these days

I always said NY will one day get Shaq, and I bet in 2 years, James Dolan will sign the once dominant center. Yikes.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 3:42 am and is filed under Ass Whupin', Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.