Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns: NBA Teams which had Shaquille O’Neal in his prime: Pt 2
Cleveland Cavaliers
Shaquille O’Neal arrived in the Cleveland Cavaliers to join forces with the one and only LeBron James in June 2009, as a result of a massive deal. Upon his arrival Shaq said, "My motto is very simple: Win a Ring for the King,"
referring to James.
Shaq also got his 33 number jersey and once again the Cavs under the guide lines of head coach Mike Brown raised the slogan of bringing the championship rings to Cleveland. Just when everything started seeming nice O’Neal endured
an injury on his right thumb while going up for a shot against Glen Davis.
For the time being O’Neal’s injury had shaken the Cavs, but later Shaq had a surgery on his thumb and after having a pause of almost two months returned to the court. However, after making to the postseason the Cavs lost to the
Boston Celtics 4-2 in the second round of the playoffs.
Shaq at that point in time was at his low whether it’s scoring or it’s rebounding in comparison to the last year. Even his entry in the starting line-up could lift his play. During that tenure Shaq played 53 games, spent on average
23 minutes on the court, while scoring 12 points and grasping 6.7 rebounds per game.
The reason behind this downfall was Shaq himself, who failed to show sparks down low and he never really looked tweaking it. As his down fall had started prior joining the Cavs.
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns obtained O’Neal from the South Beach franchise Miami Heat, which was struggling big time back then. In order to get O’Neal the Suns had to gave up there tremendous finisher Shawn Marion. This trade proved a big
mistake for the Suns, as Shaq wasn’t able to win the championship for Phoenix.
Although, his performance was way better than what he achieved afterwards. Shaq scored with an average of 17.8 points, had 8.4 rebounds and blocked one shot at least in each game for the Suns.
This time it was not Shaq, who was responsible for all the wrong doing, as he showed his sparks right from the debut game against the Los Angeles Lakers and his foe Kobe Bryant. In that close contested game O’Neal made 15.35 points
and clutched 9.5 rebounds for the Suns, in spite of that Phoenix lost the game by six points.
After the game while addressing a press conference Shaq said, "I will take the blame for this loss because I wasn't in tune with the guys [...] But give me four or five days to really get in tune and I'll get it."
This just showed the character of the big guy.
Miami Heat
LeBron James was not the only star who promised the Miami Heat fans that he will bring the Larry O’Brian trophy to the city. Even before him, Shaq said the same words when he joined the Heat in July 2004.
One of the major reasons for joining the Heat that Shaq gave at that point in time was there upcoming talent Dwyane Wade and O’Neal was more than happy to play alongside him. With Shaq on the roster the Heat bettered the expectations
of all, as the franchise snatched the best record in the Eastern Conference during that season.
In addition to that Shaq performed well, averaged 22.9 points along with 10.4 rebounds a night, and helped the Heat achieve the best record in their conference. It was because of that performance; Shaq was able to be named for
the All-Star Team 12th time and also got selected for the All-NBA 1st Team.
However, Shaq and Miami failed to fulfil the promise they made to their fans, when they lost to the former defending champions Detroit Pistons in game seven of the conference finals. Afterwards Shaq lost his place in the team due
to number of injuries he endured. So the Heat enjoyed a good tenure with Shaq, but certainly still it was not his best.
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