The rumors are true. Shaq is back in the Western Conference. In an act of desperation, the Suns, a first place team with one of the top records in the NBA, over reacted to the Lakers getting Pau Gasol and rolled the dice. They traded for a former super star who is in rapid decline. In fact, due to an injury he can not even play for awhile. The achievements of Shaq are well documented. Unfortunately for the Suns, none of them have occured in the last couple of years. The last two seasons have been a litany of injury after injury, comeback after comeback, stuggles with weight and conditioning, and ending with declining numbers and his first exit from the All Star game. Who would vote for him now? Not many.
At age 35 and still carry a load of weight, things are unlikely to get better for Shaq. You can eventually recover from some of the injuries that he has had. But when your hips start to go....well....it's not like a hammy. When hips start to go bad they usually never fully recover. Eventually they end up with a hip replacement. Just ask PJ.
So one has to wonder what the Suns were thinking. They run a quick strike offense and the only thing that Shaq can strike quickly is Fatburgers. They will be playing offense four on five. One has to also wonder what their doctors were thinking. The last report I read on his hip was that he was heading towards surgury to clear out some junk. They must have decided that it can wait until summer and gamble on his being able to make through the season.
They have rolled the dice. If he doesn't make it, they could go into the playoffs without Shaq and Shawn Marion. If that happens this trade will spell doom for the Suns. Even if it doesn't happen, they have spent 40 mil on a player that the Heat were happy to unload. It is just a matter of time until father time catches up with Shaq. If he hasn't already.
Either way, mark you calenders for Wednesday, February 20 at 6PM. Speculation is that Shaq will make his debut at home in Phoenix against....you guessed it, the Lakers.
JamFan
