Before this past NBA began, the NBA said goodbye to one of the biggest personalities and greatest players the league had ever seen. After suffering numerous injuries during his last year with the Boston Celtics, Shaquille O’Neal decided to call it a career and hang it up after 19 seasons in the league.

Even though Shaq was a force to be reckoned with when healthy in his final years in the league, the four-time NBA champion new it was time to call it a career. Although many will miss the many with a thousand nicknames, Shaq walking away from the game was a smart move and something that veteran players can respect as he knew he could no longer play at the same level.

After officially announcing his retirement from the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers let it be known that they intended to retire his No. 34 jersey at some point in the near future. The exact date and was still up in the air until now with the storied NBA franchise announcing that they will retire his jersey on April 2.

During his time with the Lakers, Shaq went from being an All-Star caliber player with a bright future to a legitimate superstar and arguably the league’s best player for a time. With superstar teammate Kobe Bryant leading the way in the backcourt and Shaq getting it done in the paint, the Lakers dominated the competition in the NBA for a three-year span in which they won three NBA titles in a row.

After a somewhat ugly divorce with Los Angeles after the team chose to stick with a younger Kobe over the aging Shaq, the perennial All-Star headed to the Miami Heat to win a fourth and ultimately final title to cement his legacy as arguably one of the greatest players of all-time.

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