If Cleveland wins it all

[Dr. Jack]

& Shaq wins championships with Kobe, Wade & James - how will his legacy be helped?

Will Shaq go down as most valuable big man in history of the NBA?

Now I know he is not same player, basically a role player now but you can't really disregard his presence

I guess the question is why couldn't he win in Phoenix?

[BigFratDaddy]

Yea i think its safe to say he will....

But mostly because of this pre-heat career, not post. After the trade to Miami he has simply been padding stats and acheivements.

Dwayne Wade carried the Heat to a championship.

[Dr. Jack]

Wade became a superstar that year but it was helped by the presence of Shaq. Actually Shaq was big in some early playoff games that year

but agree that he's been in decline since Miami.

That being said he'll be important come playoff time

[BigFratDaddy]

yea i think the goal with Shaq is to keep him healthy enough for the playoffs, then use the shit out of him... i guess we'll see in the Cavs v Mavs finals showdown

[rjb1816]

I dont think it will do much because it is James team and some times you forget shaq is even on their squad.

He'll go down as having to have a premiere perimeter player on his team to win, and all of his bitter departures from many teams

[Dr. Jack]

No way rjb - not a big fan either because the way he left but can't deny his greatness & how much pressure he takes away from those perimiter players

[keyser soze]

I'm still not convinced that they are winning it all this year (Despite how well they are playing right now). However, if they do manage to win it all this year, I think Shaq's legacy will be helped immensely. Personally, I don't think he is a particulary integral part of their team and I've always thought he was overrated.

[Only_Bets_Ties]

Originally Posted by Dr. Jack

I guess the question is why couldn't he win in Phoenix?

Wasn't Prepared
Alot of marital problems at that time
To many Superstars on one team
Phoenix was a to fast pace playing team, they had to slow down which hurt their team and shaq
Stoudemire isn't close to a James

[westcoastO]

i hate shaq as much as anyone but i can admit he was a HUGE part in the heat winning. his presence in the middle made life a LOT easier on wade that season and definitely was a big step in the right direction for him turning into a top 5 player

and if cleveland wins this year, of course shaq has something to do with it. if you log a good amount of minutes on a team who wins a title, you had something to do with it by default

however i really don't think that shaq is the missing link or anything for the cavs. there are plenty of players that could do what shaq does to this point so a title this year will not do anything to his "legacy" imo

[jonnyblaze]

Originally Posted by Dr. Jack

& Shaq wins championships with Kobe, Wade & James - how will his legacy be helped?

Will Shaq go down as most valuable big man in history of the NBA?

Now I know he is not same player, basically a role player now but you can't really disregard his presence

I guess the question is why couldn't he win in Phoenix?

Or Orlando?

[Shark23]

Originally Posted by jonnyblaze

Or Orlando?

Two words for you Jonathon:

Hakeen Olajuwon

[keyser soze]

Originally Posted by Shark23

Two words for you Jonathon:

Hakeen Olajuwon

He also hadn't peeked yet as a player. But yeah, Olajuwon was amazing. (Although, If Nick Anderson can make a free throw at the end of game 1, that could have been a very different series)

[Romanowski]

shaq couldnt win in phoenix because the suns style was actually hampered by shaq

hes to slow for the pace nash needs

if the team was built around shaq, nash wouldnt be as effective and vice versa

it really begs the question, can the suns style of play really win in the nba?

[domafia]

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/feature.../numbers.game/

[Sweetleaf22]

Yes, da best for a big guy, ive seen in his prime