Shaq's legacy will be decided by season with Cleveland.

When Shaquille O’Neal received his first and only Most Valuable Player Award in the 2000 NBA season, he quoted the great Aristotle; “Greatness is not a singular act but a habit, you are what you repeatedly do,” O’Neal had quoted.

Now-a-days it is tough to judge O’Neal’s consistency. While he has helped lead three separate teams to the NBA finals, he took the Phoenix Suns the last two seasons to the bottom cellar, locked the door and threw away the key. Regardless of his numbers with the Suns ( 17.8PPG and 8.4 RPG) this last year, his incapability to run up and down the floor coupled with the Suns inability to play a half court offense ultimately caused the Suns their present demise.  

To say whether or not O’Neal will go down as the greatest center of all time will hinge on his future season, with his new, new, new, new team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. When judging the term the “greatest” we like to think of centers such as Wilt, Kareem and Hakeem, guys that have stayed with their current teams for most or all of their careers, and were always great enough to keep them competitive.

Possibly, though, O’Neal could be doing something even more impressive; Taking an astounding four teams from either obscurity or mediocrity to the promise land.  

 Alarmingly, however, for O’Neal, this season may in fact hinge on a big chunk of his legacy. If he can take the Cav’s to the finals and even win the whole enchilada, he may go down as the center that could take any mediocre team with a hungry superstar, and turn them into a champion. If the Cav’s fail than O’Neal may be remembered as a once great center who ended up burying two teams on his way out of the league.

And if O’Neal cannot “diesel” (yes, I just made that noun into a verb) the Cav’s to the finals than the sentiment about his whole career may change as well. Statements such as “Wade was the real catalyst of the Heat,” and “Shaq always needed a great superstar to win” will almost certainly come up in barbershops, playgrounds and drunken nights at the bar with friends.

Since his departure from Los Angeles, O’Neal has seemed to have suffered from a Lakers complex. In past years O’Neal has asked Kobe to tell him how his ass tastes, won the championship with the Heat and immediately after called out his former team, told reporters that Dwayne Wade is the best player he ever played with than recently changed his answer back to Kobe, called Pat Riley the best coach ever than changed that to Phil Jackson, and thanks to Twitter he announced he was pulling for the Lakers against the Orlando Magic.

Recently SI.com reported that O’Neal rejected a trade in February to the Portland Trail Blazers, probably because O’Neal knew he could not win a championship with them. Recently, however, O’Neal had no problem being traded to the Cav’s, seemingly because he knows he can have another crack at winning the title. More importantly, though, O’Neal knows he has a chance to beat the Lakers, beat Kobe, and get one last taste at redemption.

Anybody that does not believe O’Neal has a lot of pride probably does not believe Yogi is a bear. This season means everything to Shaq. A chance to show he still has it, a chance to show he is more valuable than Bryant, a chance to show that he can win with any team, something he has boasted about for years.  

But why does O’Neal need to prove anything? His has garnered four championships, a gold medal, big contracts and plenty of endorsements and is already way past his prime. If he loses wouldn’t he still go down as one of the greatest centers ever?

Yes and No. Yes because yes, and no because every superstar is judged by the bulk of their career. Throughout the years, O’Neal’s numbers and production have steadily declined for the most part. Many may remember O’Neal as a guy who was only great in his prime, maybe three or four years,  but then slowly lagged to the finish line.

 Sometimes in sports, it can take one big season, game, moment or play to help shape an entire career.

What we would think of David Robinson if he never won a title in the 1999 season and then retired the next year?

How would we view Sandy Koufax if he did not win games five and seven of the 1966 World Series?

What would the legacy of Kurt Warner be if that pass to Isaac Bruce was dropped in the waning moments of Super Bowl XXXIV?

All of those players would still be considered superstars, but those moments, seasons, and plays made them all that more special.

How special would O’Neal’s career be if Cleveland wins the title this year?

More problematic would be what will people say of the career of the Shaq daddy if Cleveland were to lose in the second or third round?

Would Shaq still go down as the greatest center ever that continuously carried team after team to the horizon? Or a great center, with numerous singular acts for only certain stints of his career?