Former Cav Shaquille O’Neal’s mother speaks on his career
Shaquille O’Neal, one-time center for Cleveland Cavaliers, will be remembered in the Land forever.
Appearing on the Mother’s Day Episode of Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson’s “Scoop B Radio”, Shaquille O’Neal’s mother, Lucille O’Neal, spoke on a number of topics related to her son. O’Neal played for six teams in his NBA career, including the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Robinson’s also published excerpts from his interview with Lucille O’Neal for RESPECT Magazine, where he’s a managing editor and contributor.
The audio of the podcast can be found embedded below:
Shaquille O’Neal played in the NBA for 19 years and in his prime he was the most the dominant center of his generation. Consider that in his says with the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers, he averaged 27.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.6 blocks per game. He won three NBA championships and three Finals MVP awards in this time. In the three seasons that followed, he would win another championship with the Miami Heat but it would be Dwyane Wade winning Finals MVP.
However, no time may be interesting for fans of LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers than the 2009-2010 season, the season before James decided to depart and take his talents to South Beach. The Cavs traded for O’Neal with the hope that he would help bring James to a championship like he had done for Bryant and Wade.
Unfortunately, injuries mounted for O’Neal while Father Time crept up on him and his body slowed. He would only play in 53 games and average 23.4 minutes per game. His shooting efficiency was the lowest it had been since the 1996-1997 season and it only got worse in the playoffs. He was averaging 1.2 blocks per game that season, the worst he had done as shot-blocker up to that point.
It was disappointing for a few reasons. Not only was O’Neal one of the most likable and fun-loving guys in the NBA but he was truly expected to be a difference-maker for the Cavs.
During his press conference, he came up with a motto for the season: “Win a ring for the King”.
Then again, so was Ben Wallace, another center the Cavs acquired in the twilight of his career.
Averaging 12.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, Shaq’s averaged fewer points and rebounds than forward Antawn Jamison. Because of injuries keeping him out of 29 contests, he ended up with less total blocks than James and Anderson Varejao.
It was fun, it was funny. It just wasn’t fruitful.
In fact, after the Cleveland Cavaliers fell to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals (who O’Neal would play for the following season) and James would announce his decision to sign with the Miami Heat a couple of months later, O’Neal’s lone season in Cleveland would go down in folklore.
O’Neal has been in the spotlight again this season, announcing that he would run for police sheriff in 2020, being inducted into the Hall of Fame, having his jersey retired by the Miami Heat, receiving a statue from the Los Angeles Lakers and being named the cover athlete of NBA2K’s Legend Edition (2018).
O’Neal’s mother would have this to say on what it meant to her for her son to have received two statues, one from the Lakers and one from LSU, his college alma mater:
"“It’s almost like he’s really leaving something for somebody to learn from and admire but it’s a legacy we want to leave. When we leave this earth we want to leave a legacy and those two statues are reminders of the legacy of Shaquille O’Neal.”"
She also spoke about what made O’Neal so interesting, on and off the court; not only is O’Neal known as a notorious joker, O’Neal goes against the grain of superstar athletes by having multiple college degrees and being a police officer.
"“We always talked life after basketball and it was during preparation from this place that we started putting a plan into action and we realized when Shaquille began to play basketball we realized that he could use that as an opportunity to get to college because we knew that we couldn’t afford it, so we talked to Shaquille about education.”"
As for what Scoop B would call O’Neal’s bravado, Mama O’Neal had his to say about how her son developed so much confidence and comfort with being a unique persona in the NBA:
"“Well, I think anybody that has that that has to come from you. The reason I say that is parents we can talk about what you need and you can do this but until you learn that everything begins with you, it will never happen for you so I talked to you a little while ago about planting positive seeds and as a mother you water the seeds keep telling him Shaquille you are a designer original, Shaquille you are unique, you are past being different. My mother used to always say ‘that one right there it’s something special about him,’ I kept telling him that you’re special. I kept encouraging him and with those encouraging words and planting those positive seeds he is the brave man that he is today and that courage and that confidence it’s in him.”"
This should go without saying but O’Neal has a fantastic mother.
I remember when Shaq came to Cleveland because I was ecstatic about the possibilities. If I paid closer attention to what happened in Miami, I wouldn’t have been surprised that Shaq’s body turned against him as he only played 59 games in the 2005-2006 season and 40 games in the 2006-2007 season.
Based on the historical greatness of O’Neal, I don’t blame the Cavs for trading for him, either. It was simply one of those situations that didn’t work out as planned.
Nonetheless, while the 2009-2010 season that O’Neal played with the Cavs will never be forgotten by anyone, O’Neal’s legacy also lives on in Cleveland in another way. He lives on in the James, whose physical dominance often draws comparison’s to O’Neal’s.
In fact, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue considers James to be “the Shaq of guards and forwards“.
James, who was also blessed with a natural talent in basketball, actually shares a lot of similarities with O’Neal off-the-court as well. He goes against the grain of the modern superstar, funding schools, starting a school, being a legitimate business mogul and announcing he’s already signed up to attend the University of Akron and will start as soon as he gets some down time.
There’s no better way for the Shaq of guards and forwards to behave off-the-court. I’m one hundred percent sure Shaq approves.
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What do you think of Lucille O’Neal’s interview and the Shaquille O’Neal’s legacy in the NBA? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.
*All stats courtesy of www.basketball-reference.com