Shaquille O’Neal announces retirement on Twitter after 19 years in NBA (2024)

Shaquille O’Neal had more than 28,000 points and almost 4 million Twitter followers. He appeared in six NBA finals, three times as the MVP, and seven feature films, twice in a starring role.

A 15-time All-Star, four-time champion and the 2000 NBA Most Valuable Player, the 39-year-old O’Neal announced his retirement on Twitter on Wednesday after spending most of his 19th season on the Boston Celtics bench, in street clothes because of leg injuries.

Along with a mid-afternoon tweet saying, “im retiring,” O’Neal included a link to a 16-second video of him saying, “We did it; 19 years, baby. Thank you very much. That’s why I’m telling you first: I’m about to retire. Love you. Talk to you soon.”

An inveterate prankster who gave himself a new nickname — or several — in each of his six NBA cities, O’Neal did not notify his latest team, leaving it wondering about his plans. He played just 37 games this season, the first of a two-year deal at the veteran’s minimum salary, making just three brief appearances after Feb. 1.

During his NBA career, Shaq mixed dominating play with a unique sense of humor and was an invaluable ambassador for the game. As Mike Wise explained:

A word about where he stood in the pantheon of great centers: 1. Abdul-Jabbar for longevity, the dominance at both ends and the most unalterable shot in the history of the game, the skyhook; 2. Bill Russell for 11 rings and being the consummate teammate and greatest defender of all time; and 3. Shaq.

What many in the Wilt camp fail to realize is, for all O’Neal’s perceived activities away from the game, he actually cared more about being a team player and winning than Chamberlain. As Jack Ramsay, the former coach and longtime basketball analyst, said: “Shaq was more of a team player. Wilt went out and collected stats,” actually deciding in some years “what category he would lead the league in.”

Before my e-mail account is clogged by Wilt’s followers let me add this: part of my logic stems from the fact that the Big Dipper could have never equaled the Big Quipper as an ambassador for the game.

Selling the NBA — and, by association, the Lakers — became a needed asset after the post-Magic Johnson and especially post-Michael Jordan years in the NBA. The American public wasn’t just buying merely Jordan the basketball player anymore; it was buying Jordan the telegenic pitchman.

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 coincided with the lockout. If he made nearly $300 million in guaranteed contracts as a player, he made countless more millions as that rare elite athlete, a guy who actually wanted to commune with his public rather than drive away with his tinted windows rolled up.

Shaq’s Twitter announcement is yet another example of how the platform is revolutionalizing the way athletes, celebrities and organizations are communicating the with the public. As TechCrunch reported:

Maybe I'm just obsessed with pop culture and technology, but it's still fascinating to see how celebrities use Twitter. Some use the platform to vent, others for raising money, and some use it as a launching pad for political campaigns. It's a fact that celebs have actually helped the network grow into a mainstream social tool.

Either way, Twitter has become a go-to communications and news platform for most celebs and political figures. And today, NBA basketball star Shaquille O'Neill (@Shaq) used Twitter to announce his retirement after 19 seasons, and four NBA titles.

Shaq, who has 3.8 million followers, kept things pretty simple in his retirement Tweet,simple stating 'im retiring' with a link to a video messageof the star announcing the news via Tout, an iPhone app that allows you to send short video updated to friends. He also included the hashtag, '#ShaqRetires,'which is now trending on Twitter.