Tributes flood in as Shaquille O’Neal retires

There goes the funniest there ever was," wrote the LA Times's Mark Heisler on the news that basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, one of the NBA's all time greats, had announced his retirement from the game.

"We did it, 19 years, baby," O'Neal told his Twitter followers in a video. "Thank you very much. That's why I'm telling you first. I'm about to retire. Love you. Talk to you soon."

The 7ft 1in centre has dominated defenders and headlines in equal measure throughout his two decades at the top of American basketball. He has a host of trophies to his name, including the coveted NBA Most Valuable Player award (above) and three back-to-back championships from his days at the LA Lakers in early 2000s.

"O'Neal enjoyed his place as one of the biggest, strongest, fiercest players in NBA lore," said Howard Beck in the New York Times, "the Most Dominant Ever, or MDE, as he called himself."

Yet, as Beck points out, it was Shaq's humour that fans will remember him by. "Mostly, Shaq just enjoyed being Shaq," he wrote. "He was a pure entertainer, completely at ease with himself and willing to do anything to draw a laugh, no matter how foolish he looked or sounded."

Mark Heisler concurred: "He was a joke waiting to happen with his nicknames (Big Aristotle, Big Pythagorean Theorem, Shaq-fu, Diesel) and one-liners ('I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok.')"

Indeed it was his humour and personality, according to the Washington Post's Mike Wise, that made him such an important financial asset to the NBA. "Selling the NBA — and, by association, the Lakers — became a needed asset after the post-Magic Johnson and especially post-Michael Jordan years," Wise explained.

"As big a bully as he could be on the court, Shaq became the antidote for a league devoid of much personality or panache after Jordan's second retirement after the 1997-98 season."

The NBA was not the only organisation that benefitted financially from Shaq's appeal. "Perhaps his most innovative and lasting off-the-court contribution was his ability to see the potential in a little known social networking site called Twitter," said Peter Schrager on Fox Sports.

"Back in November 2008, when Shaq first joined the fledgling website, few in the sports world had any idea that Twitter would explode into the social media and news-breaking necessity it has become."

His prolific tweeting helped attract new users to Twitter and also revealed Shaq's humility. "He rarely used the service to promote the products he was endorsing," Schrager continued. "He was just funny. He was cool. At 7ft 1in, in his late 30s, and with millions of dollars in the bank, he was still just one of us, typing away on his keyboard."

And that, Mike Wise concludes, was the real appeal of Shaq: "O'Neal is the most famous athlete I have ever covered who never lost his common touch, his ability to connect with anyone, irrespective of whether he owned his own company or needed a meal and a place to sleep.

"Here's wishing the Big Humanity a peaceful, happy retirement." ·