Miami Heat Retires Shaquille O'Neal's Jersey; Will Orlando Magic Follow Suit?
The Miami Heat has announced today that they will retire Shaquille O'Neal's number 32 this season according to CBS Sports' Matt Moore. Shaq joined the Heat in 2004 and helping them win a championship in 2006.
Reports say that Eric Reid, the Miami Heat Play-By-Play Announcer, will host the event. It will include a video presentation and the raising of the number 32 retirement banner in the rafters. This will take place on December 22, 2016 against Shaq's old team, the Los Angeles Lakers.
According to Yahoo Sports' Kelly Dwyer, Shaquille will be the fourth player to have his jersey retired by the Miami Heat. The two Miami Heat players are Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway. Wait, what? The other one never played for the Miami Heat but he still got his jersey retired. Who could it be? It's no other than the unanimous greatest player of all-time Michael Jordan.
In his first year with the Miami Heat, O'Neal averaged 22.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. In 2006, their championship year, the Big Diesel averaged 20 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.
Shaquille played in the NBA for 19 years. He played for the Orlando Magic, the Boston Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Phoenix Suns and he spent his best years with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he won 3 championships straight and won an MVP. Not so long ago, the Lakers also decided to honor Shaq and retired his number 34 jersey.
Shaquille O'Neal will be the 12th player to have their jersey retired by multiple teams; the others are Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Pete Maravich, Julius Erving and Clyde Drexler, just to name a few.
Does Shaq deserve to have his jersey retired by the Miami Heat? And will he have his jersey retired by the team who drafted him, the Orlando Magic?
