There has been no bigger personality in sports over the past 15 years than NBA center Shaquille O’Neal and for any that ever made an NBA wager on one of his team’s during his prime, they would surely agree that there has been no more dominant player during that time the than the Big Diesel.
But those days are long gone and the Shaq of 2010 is a far cry from the Shaq of 2000 on many levels. Yet the one thing that has remained consistent throughout his online wagering career is a colossal ego that sometimes, to his detriment has shown brighter than his talent.
As this one of kind player and personality’s skills and health fade into the sunset his ego and haven’t diminished in the slightest and it’s the main reason why he remains unemployed. The NBA online wager scene is going through the biggest free agent market bonanza in the history of any online wagering sport. And while many top players have cashed in Shaq remains one of only a handful of players not to have signed with a team yet earning him the title of the “Big Unemployed”, something that would have been unimaginable even a few years ago.
But for all his tremendous, loveable, redeemable and admirable qualities, Shaq has been known for little more of late than his self-interest and his ‘me-first’ approach to the team. He has played for nearly a half dozen NBA teams in his professional online wager career and burnt the bridge at almost every stop along the way.
This behavior is not unique among superstars and perhaps it’s what fuels players of his status. Make no mistake; Shaq will go down as one of the greatest players in NBA history (career 24.2 ppg, 11.2 rpg). In his prime he was simply unstoppable and the most dominant player of his generation.
But he will also be remembered for failing to live up to his potential and part of that has to be blamed on ego. His basketball skill set was sub-par and it was his freakish physical size that set him apart and allowed him to crush opponents.
Perhaps if he had invested the time to put the team first and improve his skill set (shooting FGs, shooting FT, etc) he would still be employed somewhere instead of struggling to remain relevant in the NBA online wager action.