is shaq self-actualized?

yes, i do mean in the metaphysical, buddhist sense of the word self-actualized. i will try to stumble through a basic analysis of his relationship to the basic tenets of a philosophy i have a vague understanding of.

shaq as he exited college was a force to be reckoned with. never before had the league seen a big man of such size and power. power is i guess the operative word there. even at 7'0" kareem and wilt and bill russell weren't breaking backboards like it was nothing. shaq was just a plain big dude.

add that to the fact that he ran the floor excessively well for a big man and occasionally flashed some sick PG moves on the breakaway, and multiply by a pretty sick array of post moves and you have a big man that basically defined and destroyed the center position in the 90s and still today.

(if you don't believe me, just look at the fact that scott pollard of all people is still being payed to play basketball. also, the career of earvin "don't call me magic" johson for further proof.)

BUT, and this is a big but so it was capitalized, shaquille has never come home with an mvp award. the case could be (and has been) made that he has never even deserved an mvp award. even in 2001, where the case for his dominance was strongest, AI pulled a substandard sixers team on his narrow shoulders all the way to the finals. (in a continuation of the shaq-killed-the-center argument, they had todd macullogh.) how is it possible that the big man that defined a generation was not capable of putting together a season for the ages?

the easy response is that he's lay-z, and that covers most of it. whether it's spending the summer rapping or amatuer policing, shaq has never put off-season conditioning high on his priority list. basically the season was his chance to get back into shape. even then, he still took off a week or two to rehab a toe or ankle some would have gritted their teeth through. not to denigrate shaq's force of will in the paint, nor to take anything away from the fact that he has 4 championships to his name, but he has not ever been the one force on his team that opponents had to contend with.

in orlando there was penny, in LA there was kobe, and in miami, there is wade. all of those are superlative basketball players that were all making all-nba appearances while shaq was their running mate.

even as i'm saying this, i'm realizing that MJ never did shit in terms of championships without pippen, but let's just ignore that because mike was the most self-actualized player ever at all stages of his career.

shaq never lived up to his potential for dominance. sure. he's had good seasons, great ones on occasion, his most notable one in 2000 in his first year with the wizard of hollywood. and though he dominated games a great many times during his career, he never

1. led the league in rebounds
2. scored more than 30 ppg

i know that there's technically still time for him to do both, and he's still somehow averaging 20/9, but let's not kid ourselves. shaq o'neal is waaaaaaaaaaay on the downside of his career. every time i see him humbly stumbling around the court, basically staying afloat on his aura and some still pretty good post moves, i shed an inner tear reminiscing about what was and what could have been.