By JessicaCamerato
CSNNE.com
Shaquille ONeal played less than 40 games for the Boston Celtics this season, yet he provided fans with many more memorable moments before announcing his retirement on Wednesday. Take a look at five that stood out from ONeals time in Boston.
Preseason Pranks
The Celtics said ONeal would bring energy to the team, and fans got a glimpse of just how much before the regular season even began. During Training Camp online videos showed 5-9 Nate Robinson dunking on 7-1 ONeal, Robinson teaming up with Rajon Rondo to body slam the big man, and ONeal participating in a dance-off with his teammates. You've got so many characters in this locker room, but I think when Shaq and Nate got together, they always combined for some good big guy-little guy humor, said Delonte West.
The Statue
What better way to mingle with the fans of Boston than to pose as a human statue in the middle of Harvard Square? (Seems so obvious.) ONeal first revealed his plan on 98.5 The Sports Hub in October and then followed through a few weeks later, announcing the details on Twitter. He sat silently while fans gathered and posed with him for photos. "I can now tell everybody I went to Harvard," he said.
Meet Shaquita
Following a practice on Halloween afternoon, ONeal revealed to reporters that he was going to dress up as a female character named Shaquita to celebrate the holiday that evening. No description he offered could have captured his final look in words. Wearing a short wig, tight outfit, and makeup, ONeal lip synced Beyonce and shared the moments on Twitter.
The 2000 Shaq
O'Neal posted a double-double with 25 points (9-10 FG) and 11 rebounds on November 24 in a 89-83 win over the New Jersey Nets. The standout stat -- he made four straight free throws in the comeback victory. "He looked like the 2000 Shaq," said Kevin Garnett. "He looked fresh tonight. He looked really good. I thought he did a great job of getting us in the bonus early. He definitely was the target tonight . . . On this team, night in and night out, we are going to have a different guy, from Paul Pierce to Ray Allen to anybody. And tonight it was Shaq."
Shaq Goes Pop
By the time the holidays rolled around, ONeal had already participated in so many entertaining endeavors that it didnt even seem unusual that he would conduct the Boston Pops. Pops conductor Keith Lockhart donned a number 18 Celtics jersey and introduced a tuxedo-clad O'Neal. Shaq led the orchestra for "Sleigh Ride," "Can You Feel It?" and a finale of "We Are the Champions."
Jessica Camerato is on Twitter athttp:twitter.comjcameratoNBAShe can bereached at jessicacamerato@gmail.com.