Monday Frowndup with Shaq Reaqtions

Monday morning, back to Shaq; who made his first official announcement about the big trade on Friday afternoon via Twitter, by publishing a link to this video of himself lip-synching in his car to a song by Akon called "Over the Edge." Here is the video, and below is an excerpt of the song's lyrics so that we might better understand what Shaq is saying here.



I'm here at the crossroad
where my life is heading man, I don't know.
Should I stay or should I go
cause anything's better then what I've been through
What I would give to get a sign from up above.
Letting me know that everything would be ok
I wish someone would pull me up from outta the mud
will anyone out there to say to me

I'm here,(im here)
For you, (for u)
Don't worry cause I got you ( I got u babeehh)
Don't trip (dont trip)
Don't stress (don't stress)
My life seems 2 be headed
Over the edge (feels like im headed)
(4x)

Now everyday that goes by,
I see things that'll makes another man cry
I'm sitting wondering why
I can't find that someone to fit in my life
see i was searching, But am i worth it
And if they ever think I'm good enough for them
Despite my suffering, I felt the lovin,
The blessing came when i needed it the most
And thats the sign that i recieved from up above letting me,
Know that everything is going to be ok
And that was that something that pulled me out of the mud
And also was the one that said to me

I'm here, (im here)
For you, (for u)
Don't worry cause I got you ( I got u babeehh)
Don't trip (dont trip)

* * *

So, not much guesswork necessary, it turns out, as we could hardly ask for a more direct expression of gratitude by The Big Sidekick to the Cavaliers for pulling him out of the mud, and pairing him with a teammate, in LeBron, who could hardly "fit in his life" any better.

Yet, somewhat to our surprise, this response by Shaq has been criticized by one of our favorite NBA writers, Bethlehem Shoals of the Sporting News who calls it an "off-hand attention-grab," that leads him to speculate that Shaq might "distract the team, organization and city in more than one way."

For our part, we find it fairly ridiculous to criticize Shaq for directly communicating with his fans in this way. There were at least 4.5 million people who wanted to know what Shaq thought of the deal, and it continues to refresh us to see famous athletes continue eschew the use of middlemen to communicate with us more directly.

Perhaps Shoals is struggling to support his initial criticism of the Shaq trade:

"[E[ven if Shaq continues this modest renaissance of his, this is just a rental. I prefer to think of O'Neal's All-Star 2008-09 as one last gasp of motivation, the crescendo we'd expect of any player not granted special privileges; in any case, time isn't on his side one bit, and it's just about caught up to him once and for all. There is no way O'Neal remains a factor much beyond this next season; if memory serves, he mentioned retiring after this contract on at least a couple occasions. That's not to say he won't be useful for this current Cavs team. However, this trade does nothing to lay the foundation for a dynasty, which is what LeBron should be expecting. It's a smokescreen; even if Cleveland wins a championship, which would be nice and all, come 2010 they'll be right back where they would've been without Shaq. Just up one ring."

Just up one ring. Pause. Recover.

"They then have to inspire faith in James all over again, presumably by making a play for another marquee free agent. That's a lot of ifs, and without a ring, it's just been one big distraction. And that's the real worry here. That Shaq's presence, and his Cleveland sojourn, will either give the franchise false hope, or force them to become preoccupied with an spotlight-hungry player who matters very little to their team's real future. Maybe I'm underestimating how much a ring would mean for any city, much less Cleveland."

Underestimating. Yes. Thanks. And as for Shaq being a huge distraction from building a dynasty, because it's going to be some big problem to have to go at it all over again to sign another marquee free agent in 2010? Well, isn't 2010 what it's all about here? Has anyone else heard a better idea on how to use this $20 million in 2009 in a way that would leave the Cavs as much freedom in 2010, or would justify giving up that 2010 purchasing power? We haven't. And if the Cavs only win one Title with Shaq?

Only one?

We'll note in closing on this point that Shoals is a Knicks fan.

* * *

More on 2010, and the Vince Carter trade: We're not alone in supposing that the deal might have blown up what was some very good chemistry in Orlando. More interesting, perhaps, is what it's done for the Nets, who might now be in a position to add two max contracts in 2010 to a roster containing Devin Harris, Yi Jianlian, Courtney Lee, Brook Lopez, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and 2009 1st rounder Terrence Williams from Louisville. Of course it is the Nets we're talking about here, which is at least something of a relief to us in considering these 2010 prospects.

* * *

More on prospects: ESPN's John Hollinger on Cavs' second round pick Danny Green, via Terry Pluto: "Were it not for San Antonio's theft of [DeJuan] Blair, Cleveland taking Green at No. 46 would be the steal of the draft. He's a knockdown outside shooter who hit 42 percent on 3s and 85 percent at the line last season, and he's a solid defender at the wing with good size. My Draft Rater had him as the No. 8 college player in the draft. . . . In addition to [the Cavs'] inability to contend with Dwight Howard, their biggest issue in the playoffs against Orlando was a lack of wing talent -- in particular, wing talent that can knock down all the open looks LeBron James creates. Green helps answer that need."

* * *

Finally, we suppose this is what you posers get for pretending to care about U.S. Soccer. Bwah-hah-hah! NFL preseason starts in only one month!

Happy Monday, everyone. Here's to smooth sailing into the three-day weekend.