Washed up. Unmotivated. Lazy. Finished.
All terms used to describe Shaquille O’Neal upon his arrival in Phoenix. Luckily for Suns fans, someone forgot to send the memo to Shaq–or they did send it and Shaq didn’t like what he heard.
While his retirement is just 545 days away (Thanks to BrightSideoftheSun.com‘s retirement countdown) Shaq is playing like the calendar reads 2004.
Whether it’s the Suns training staff, or a renewed desire to prove he is the best center of all time, Shaq has gone from an old man running out the clock on his career to being a difference maker in the Western Conference.
While much has been written about Shaq being a legit all star this year, what about taking it one step further?
What about Shaq garnering MVP consideration?
Sure it’s probably a little outlandish, but take a look at his numbers over the last month.
The Big Cactus is averaging 21.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.7 blocks a game. Not to mention he is shooting almost 60% from the field and an astonishing 65.9% from the free throw line (OK, astonishing for him– mediocre for the rest of the NBA).
In 2004, his first season in Miami, Shaq finished second in the MVP voting to point guard extraordinaire Steve Nash. Take a look at his numbers that season, 22.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.3 blocks per game. He shot 60% from the field and only 46.1% from the line.
Yes, the production this past month is a little less than what he put up in 2004, but his performances included a 35 point, 8 rebound and 3 block game and a 28 point, 12 rebound and 2 blocks outburst. And he’s doing it with a Suns team that includes three other starters who average 15 or more points per game and he’s playing 7 fewer minutes per contest than in the rest of his career.
The award will probably go to Lebron James or Kobe Bryant, but if Shaq’s production continues at it’s December level, the Suns will slowly be considered a serious threat in the West and O’Neal will deserve to be considered as an MVP-caliber player again.
