… but after the games are played, and the war of words are exchanged, will Cleveland’s latest saving grace be all that he’s getting hyped up to be: mainly the final piece for the Cavs to win a championship, not some washed up big name star holding on desperately to remain relevent and in the spotlight.

SCOTT JACOBS

Today he’s the big Savior, the man with a microphone, and shoulders big enough to hoist the city of Cleveland on his back, and take the long suffering sports city to a long overdue championship.  But later on, when the hype settles down, and the Big Cactus tranforms into the Big Freeze  or the Big Snowball, or whatever he elects to name himself, where will the Cavs and O’Neal really be?  Hoisting an NBA Championship?  Or bickering about what could have been?

You see, the Big Tweet is as brilliant a salesman (of himself) as we’ve ever had in the NBA.  If Shaq was a stock, and people bought the hype surrounding his trade from the Suns to the Cavs, his stock would be  otherworldly.  Shaq brings excitement, and hope wherever he goes.  And when he leaves he leaves ashes and broken relationships in his wake.  Shaq’s entrances and his exits, are almost always equally dramatic.  They start with a parade, or some kind of lovefest, and they usually end with bitterness and resentment.

So Cleveland, Shaq’s newest home for the Big Traveler (five teams now and counting…) is banking on Shaq’s 300 lbs of muscle and post presence to push the Cavaliers over the top and onto the NBA’s grandest stage.  Shaq is ecstatic to be back in the mix, no longer  a forgotten star after a horrible trade gone wrong for the Suns (even though O’Neal in the process revived what seemed to be a fading career).  Shaq is thrilled to be back in the spotlight.  LeBron may be the engine, but Shaq is Cleveland’s newest mojo.  And Cleveland is banking on the hope that Shaq didn’t leave his mojo back in 2006, the last time he won a title (though this writer would argue Shaq was merely the backdrop that year for the D-Wade show, but that’s irrelevent now).

People love this story.  Shaq and LeBron teaming up.  But I loved the idea of Stoudemire and O’Neal, and uh, look where that got Phoenix?  (In case you were waiting for the answer, we were looking for Nowhere.  What is nowhere).  Shaq revived his career with the Suns, because Phoenix has an unbelievable training staff that seems to work miracles (See Hill, Grant), but if you step aside the box score, you’ll see that Shaq (despite his nice numbers last year) was really a shell of his former self.

That great field goal percentage he had always seemed to overshadow the fact that he blew so many opportunities by turning over the ball.  Shaq may be a “great passer for a bigman” but he’s not the man he once was.  Once in a while he has a nice spin move in him, or an electric throwdown.  But more times than not, it seems like Shaq is the Big Blob nowadays, taking up space, but not scaring anyone.

Yes, he’s still a huge guy, and he still has plenty of strength in those massive guns, but the truth of the matter is, Shaq played on a team whose main objective was to score.  Push, push, push, and when a team is putting up 120 points some nights, some stats are bound to get a little out of whack.  Sure, Shaq averaged over 17 a game last year with the Suns, but unless you watched a few select games, he was really just a man who got lost in the shuffle.

People want him to be relevent (at least the media and Cleveland do), but the fact of the matter is this: Shaq is just jumping on LeBron’s bandwagon to help push him to a title, and even that might not stop The King from taking his crown to New York come 2010.  Shaq helped the Heat, no one denies that, but with the exception of a sensational 30 point, 20 rebound effort in their close out win over the Bulls back in 2006, Shaq was just drapery to Wade’s creative genius.

Shaq’s only relevent now, because he longs to stay in the public eye.  Truthfully, he’s very much the Big Thug.  His wity press conferences aside, Shaq is well, kind of a jerk.  He alienates team-mates, and coaches, and then always gets sent packing to another team desperate for his “name,” and “the unstoppable force that once manned center for the Lakers.”  He practically spit on everyone left from a broken down Heat team that wasn’t built to last, and you all remember his exit from L.A. (It was a quiet one, wink, wink).

Shaq is as big of an entertainer as he is as a basketball player.  People either love him or they hate him.  The NBA loves him, because he doesn’t shut up, and always keeps things interesting.  Every time his star fades, another team searching for some attention and that missing piece, looks in his direction.  Cleveland, you’re that team right now.

Shaq is no sure thing either.  Not anymore.  Yes, they pulled miracles out of the cactus with him in Phoenix, but who’s to say he’ll be so lucky in Cleveland?  I’d argue he’s the third option as of now, with James and even Mo Williams more viable and reliable options.  As for guarding the pick and roll, Orlando’s staple play, well Shaq is just downright slow.  One of the reasons the Suns had so much trouble with Shaq, was because he and Nash are terrible pick and roll defenders.

So today, Shaq had his fun, got his wet shoes, and the fans adored him like that adorable little puppy in the puppy chow commercials.

But come this season, when the hype dies down, and the games finally get played, what will they think then?

Will their new big toy help Cleveland Rock?  Or will he be just another past his prime former superstar making his way through town, Cleveland willing to throw all their eggs in his basket that this is all the Cavs needed.

Well, that and Rasheed Wallace I guess.

But the Big Bald Spot isn’t nearly as catchy as whatever Shaq is soon to come up with.  Even if he’s fighting off becoming the Big Irrelevent.

Photo: Reuters

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