After 19 Years, Shaquille O'Neal Announces Retirement via Twitter

Getty Images
Erik Hayden 456 Views Jun 1, 2011

Well that was surprisingly casual for the Big Fella: with a brief tweet, video and hashtag saying #ShaqRetires, Shaquille O'Neal is apparently exiting the NBA. The iconic center dominated the league with the Orlando Magic, won three championships in a row with the Los Angeles Lakers and brought the Miami Heat its first franchise title. In the video embedded below, he simply smiles and says, "We did it, 19 years...that's why I'm telling you first, I'm about to retire." If  there's a press conference soon, we can only guess his one professional regret: letting his rival Kobe Bryant nab one more title than he did.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at ehayden at nationaljournal dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

Elsewhere on the Web

User Comments

Please type your comment and click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be prompted to log in or register

  • The Atlantic Wire on Twitter
  • The Atlantic Wire RSS Feed
  • The Atlantic Wire iPhone App