Much like your first love, a young boy’s first sports hero always holds a special place in his heart. Last week, my first sports hero hung up his size 20 sneakers, after 19 seasons in the NBA.
If the posters on my wall and extensive basketball card collection weren’t evidence enough, the countless cheering sealed the deal. Shaquille O’Neal was my first sports hero.
When I first began my love affair with the NBA as an eight year old during the 1994-95 season, Michael Jordan was attempting to make it as a baseball player. This left the young, larger than life Shaquille O’Neal as the face of the league.
Even though I was 3,000 miles away in Southern California, I began rooting for Shaq in Orlando. That season, the Magic made it to the NBA Finals. A short four games later, Shaq and I shared our first heartbreaking moment together, as Orlando was swept by Houston.
As a California native, I had also started rooting for the Los Angeles Lakers. When Shaq joined the Lakers in the summer of 1996, it’s safe to say my love for both player and team went to the next level. To a ten year old, it was like gym class and lunch being combined into one super event.
The eight seasons Shaq spent in Los Angeles were the best years of my life as a sports fan. Many of the greatest moments of my preteen and teenage years involved Shaq and the Lakers.
Whether it was the lob Kobe threw Shaq in Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals or the epic 15-1 run to the championship in 2001, Shaq and the Lakers were never short on providing memorable moments.
As I was watching Shaq grow as a player, I was growing up myself.
After hearing of his retirement last week, I was flooded with all of the great memories Shaq had provided. It’s somewhat surreal seeing Shaq retire. In a way, it makes me feel old, although I am only 25.
I have always felt sports are the best diversion from everyday life. They can often serve as a common bond, capable of uniting the masses.
They can also reinforce many of the different lessons life teaches us. Shaq’s retirement reinforced one of those for me: Just like anyone else important in one’s life, enjoy your sports heroes while you can.
Despite all of the great memories fans can hold onto forever, athletes couldn’t, can’t and never will be able to play forever.
Joshua Sexton is a lifelong basketball fanatic, who watches as many games as possible. In addition, He has played and coached the game at the high school level. He has recently started writing about the game of basketball.
