Groundbreaking Hall of Fame center George Mikan died Thursday. He was 80. The 6-foot-10, 245-pound center from DePaul led the NBA in scoring his first six seasons and paced the Minneapolis Lakers to four NBA titles: one in 1950, then three in a row from 1952-54. Because of his eminence in league history, O'Neal announced in the pre-game that he was dedicating his performance in the game to Mikan. After the game, he told a national audience on TNT: "My condolences to the Mikan family. I heard they were having some (financial) problems. If they contact the Heat offices, I would like to pay for the funeral."

The BIG GUY HAS A BIG HEART!!!

SHAQ IS THE MAN!!!!!!

The Big Fella <U>is</U> a stud.

You must remember that Shaq is the son of a military man and has a huge value in public service. He is literally a police officer and even is working under cover to go after child predators on the internet. It does not at all surprise me the gesture was made. That is just the kind of human being he is.

Peace

There was a Rick Reilly article published God knows when (tried to search on si.com, appears to be subscriber access only) that touted Shaq as the focus.

It went on to thank Shaq for not having 7 babies from 7 ladies like another NBA player. For having a sense of humour during interviews. For being an honest human being. For not hitting your wife, or girlfriend. For not shooting anybody..... you get the idea.

Shaq IS the man.

He's a decent basketball player too.

I like Shaq, I think he's funny and generally a good guy, as pointed out throughout this thread. But it's a sad day when we congratulate people for not sleeping around and not abusing your wife. For these acts of heroism, Shaq is "the man".

C'mon Chuck, don't be so cynical. :)

I don't think that's what they're saying. They're just adding that he's a standup guy, a responsible citizen, and a good father and husband. That's on top of what he does for charities and the offer he made to the Mikan family.

IMO, I have to agree with Chuck. I don't think he was trying to put down Shaq, but rather the fact that society has come down to the level of having to praise someone for doing things that should be considered normal. Maybe in the context of NBA players, he is a "great man". I would hope in regular society, his actions would make him just one of us.

<FONT COLOR=RED>Just sayin'...</FONT>

...Not *funny* down south in Canada.

That's all I'm saying.

I like your effective use of <FONT COLOR=GREEN>colour</FONT>! It does bring some <FONT COLOR=YELLOW>honour</FONT> and dignity to this site.

:D

Take off, eh.

Ya hoser.

Easy, Dan.

What would Brian Boitano do?

Blame Canada?