For someone so boisterous, so dominant and so physically imposing, Shaquille O’Neal’s NBA career ended with a whimper. The same can’t be said for Kobe Bryant, whose farewell tour this season has captivated fans everywhere.
Shaq, who retired almost five years ago, can’t help but be a bit envious of his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate.
“I’m super jealous. I wanted a Shaq tour, man. I did,” O’Neal recently said during a recording of next Monday’s “The BIG Podcast with Shaq,” according to USA TODAY’s For The Win. “Like, I never said this, but this is killing me. It did. So, you know, I had two years in Boston. I got hurt my first year, but the second year, we were going to plan a whole Shaq tour. I’m super jealous. I wanted a Shaq tour.”
O’Neal was a force during his 19 years in The Association, yet the future Hall of Famer tapped out after a 2010-11 campaign with the Boston Celtics in which he appeared in just 37 regular-season games and two playoff contests. It wasn’t exactly a hero’s send-off, as injuries prevented O’Neal from returning for another season with the C’s, and the relatively uneventful exit still isn’t sitting well with the 15-time NBA All-Star, especially as fans across the league shower Bryant with love this season.
“But still, I wanted to just go to the city, and people see me play my last game. I did,” O’Neal said, per For The Win, of his desire for a retirement tour. “I’m like, at first I tried to suck it up, but I can’t. It’s killing me.”
Fortunately for O’Neal, his post-playing days haven’t been a dud. In fact, the entertaining big man just participated in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32.
Thumbnail photo via Peter Casey/USA TODAY Sports Images
