from Bryce Sherman at BleacherReport:
"Despite winning his last championship with the Miami Heat, I always envisioned Shaq’s number 34 jersey hanging in the rafters next to Chamberlain’s, West’s, Jabbar’s, Magic’s, and all the other Laker greats. His jersey should rightfully be retired with the most storied franchise in the NBA. After all, he won three straight championships, three Finals MVP trophies, and his only regular season MVP trophy all while wearing the purple and gold. In the 1999-2000 season Shaq became the only player in NBA history to win the regular season MVP award, the All-Star MVP award, and the Finals MVP award. He literally swept the MVP’s that year! On top of all that (as if that weren’t enough) he won the scoring title, was named to the All NBA First team, named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and won his first NBA championship that year. Any player that has a season like that deserves to have his jersey retired for the team he played for while achieving those accolades. It doesn’t hurt that he followed that performance up with two more championships and two more Finals MVP trophies.
Despite all these accomplishments and the wonderful things he did for the Lakers franchise and the city of Los Angeles, if he were to play for Boston it would all be for naught. If Shaq-Fu were to finish out his career, or even play a single game, for the Boston Celtics there is absolutely no way I could handle having his jersey retired as a Laker. All else is forgivable, but defection to the Celtics is not. It’s the one unforgivable sin a Laker cannot commit and still expect absolution from the fans."
link:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4295 ... or-traitor