The Miami Heat’s salvation arrived today in the form of the seven foot funny man known as Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq joked his way through the media session, but also made his mission clear. Bring a title to South Beach. Everyone seems to have won with the MDE (Most Dominant Ever) moving to Miami. Well besides the team clad in purple and gold that is.Shaq must have brought a little bit of Los Angeles with him as he pulled up to his new office known as AmericanAirlines Arena. Who else could have pulled off that entrance besides one schooled in the ways of Hollywood life? From something straight out of the WWE, Shaq strolled down the red carpet with a flock of new followers cheering all around him. He playfully squirted everyone with a couple of ten-gallon squirt guns he held in each hand. The frenzied crowd just screamed louder. Then Miami’s new king accepted the key to the city and addressed his new kingdom.
What other player in the NBA would command this kind of attention? Only the Big Red Carpet himself. O’Neal coming to Miami is akin to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar heading to Los Angeles in the late seventies. It will change the face of the franchise. No matter how many championships Shaq brings to the Miami Heat, his impact will be immeasurable.
If you only look at pure basketball aspects, Shaq makes the Heat an instant contender in the Eastern Conference. I would expect the Heat to be on par with Detroit and Indiana as one of the top three squads in the east. Besides the conference is also devoid of many top-flight centers to make O’Neal work as hard in the regular season. A fresher Shaq in the post season could mean even more dominating playoff runs for the big guy.
Take down that curtain from the top of AmericanAirlines Arena next season. With the Big Ticket Seller in the house next year, fans in South Beach will be scrambling for seats. The extra revenue alone will help compensate for the size 22 salary O’Neal gets the next two years and might demand in the future. Plus more national exposure is sure to follow. I’m sure David Stern was having conversations with ESPN about Miami getting the max number of games on national TV even before the trade was consummated. A Lakers vs. Heat prime time tilt might be nice also.
Not only do the Heat benefit, but the entire NBA. The powers out west have controlled the league long enough for my taste. Ever since MJ was nailing jumpers over Byron Russell in ’98 the west has owned the trophies. I know Detroit broke the streak this year, but overall the majority of power still falls left of the Mississippi. The main difference has always been size and the addition of Shaq in the east helps even out the competition.
Look at the possible storylines this trade has created for the league. Just imagine if the Lakers could somehow face the Heat in a few years. For the media it would be like the second coming of Magic vs. Bird. A coast-to-coast rivalry with a pinch of animosity tossed in. If all those conspiracy theories are true Mr. Stern, please make this finals match up a priority.
So the NBA and the Miami Heat are much better off by the arrival of the Big Dollar Sign, but what about the man himself? I think Shaq might have done himself a huge service in getting out of L.A. smog. At his rally he guaranteed he would help bring a title to Miami in the near future. A big promise to make good on, even for a man the size of O’Neal. Maybe this will give him the motivation he needs to play another five years and further cement his legacy as one of the best players ever.
Sure, Shaq could have won a few more titles in L.A. with Kobe, but the Lakers lack of management skill, loyalty, business sense…I’ll stop now. This is a separate article all together, not to mention more venomous. I just think that this might be a better final chapter for the big man. Win a title in Miami and he becomes a hero once more in another city. Or win a few more titles for the spoiled L.A. fans while putting up with an organization being turned into the L.A. Kobesters. It must have been an easy choice for the Big Naked Guy on South Beach.
One reply on “Miami’s New King Arrives”
Love this comment from his press conference O’Neal said he appreciates the way he has been embraced by the city of Miami. “That has nothing to do with basketball,” he said. “That’s just because I’m sexy.”