To commemorate their 40th season in the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers are wearing an XL — the roman numeral for 40 — patch on their jerseys.
XXXL would be more like it.
The trade for Shaquille O’Neal has super-sized the Cavaliers, who are counting on the extra larger-than-life center to finally help end the rusted region’s 45-year title drought and maybe stop LeBron James from saying goodbye.
James can leave after this season, his seventh. The 25-year-old is eligible for free agency and although he has never said he would bolt from his home state, the fact that he hasn’t signed an extension this summer is seen by some as a warning sign.
O’Neal has transformed the Cavaliers into goliaths. They are the league’s top box-office attraction with a traveling two-ringed circus of superstar/celebrity power. The Jonas Brothers will have fewer road groupies than the Cavaliers.
“It’s going to be crazy,” James said.
The league MVP has always revered O’Neal from afar. Now he’s adopted him as a big brother and formed a tandem that may one day join Magic-Kareem, Cousy-Russell, Stockton-Malone, Jordan-Pippen and even O’Neal-Bryant among the great duos in NBA history.
“Everybody in this league always looks at Shaq like the Godfather,” James said. “When you come into this league, you need to get to know him. He’s a guy you need to sign the papers with before you play a game. I’ve always been comfortable being around him. It’s not hard getting along with Shaq. His personality is great.”
Cleveland will begin its climb toward the top on Tuesday when the Cavaliers host the Boston Celtics in a season-opener that may preview this season’s Eastern Conference finals. The Cavaliers and Celtics, who exchanged pushes and shoves in an exhibition this week, will battle the defending champ Orlando Magic for Eastern supremacy in a conference that got much stronger during the off-season as all the powers added firepower.
A championship is far from guaranteed for the Cavaliers. After starting the playoffs with a 10-0 record, they were knocked out in six games last June by the Magic’s inside-outside attack of Dwight Howard and a bombardment of threes.
Before the Cavaliers were even outside Orlando airspace after being eliminated, general manager Danny Ferry was putting together a package to pry O’Neal away from Phoenix.
Assuming Cleveland runs into Orlando again, the Cavaliers believe O’Neal, who has taken three of his four previous teams to the NBA finals, can neutralize Howard and with the additions of forward Jamario Moon and swingman Anthony Parker, Cleveland has enough length to contain Orlando’s sharpshooters.
However, it’s the 2.16m, 148kg O’Neal, looking more fit than he has in years, who will make the biggest difference. He’s in the final year of his US$20 million per season contract and believes he can play at least two more years.
He’d like them to be in Cleveland — with fellow megastar James and with a Cavaliers team he believes is special.
To Shaq, this is not some one-year experiment.
“This is probably the best team I’ve ever played on — on paper, anyway,” O’Neal said. “I’ve always been on management to get me the power forward I’ve needed and the shooters I’ve needed.”
In James, O’Neal, who is coming off a 14th All-Star season, has another extraordinary co-star like the ones he bonded with to win four titles — three straight with Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles and one with Dwyane Wade in Miami.
Although those relationships included diamond rings, champagne and downtown victory parades, however, there were rocky periods as well.
O’Neal clashed publicly and privately with Bryant and didn’t stop taking shots at him even after their split. There wasn’t the same acrimony with Wade, but the two played tug-of-war for the spotlight.
From the time O’Neal arrived in Cleveland, critics said the James-O’Neal marriage was destined for disaster on and off the court.
O’Neal will clog the foul lane and get in James’ way, say the naysayers. Others say James will be jealous and threatened by O’Neal’s star power. Cleveland isn’t big enough for the two of them.
Shaq will wear out his welcome. He’s done it before.
James passes off the skepticism with a shrug.
“People look too far into individuals than the team aspect of things,” he said. “They think two stars can’t coexist. But it’s not just about me and Shaq, it’s about the whole team. Me and Shaq can’t do it by ourselves. We need everybody on the floor to work hard every day to make this thing happen.”
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