Shaquille O’Neal is officially a Boston Celtic
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As expected, the Boston Celtics announced the signing of free agent center Shaquille O’Neal on Wednesday.
‘I am honored to be joining the Celtics,’ O’Neal said. ‘I have played against Paul [Pierce], Ray [Allen], Kevin [Garnett], Rajon [Rondo], and Jermaine [O’Neal] for many years and it will be great to be able to call them my teammates. I cannot wait to get to Boston to get started in pursuit of another championship.’
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
O’Neal won three NBA titles with the Lakers and one with the Miami Heat and has also played for the Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers.
O’Neal was named the league MVP as a member of the Lakers in 2000. He is the fifth-leading scorer in NBA history (28,255 points) and is 14th on the all-time rebounds list (12,921). He averaged 12 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots in 53 games during his only season with the Cavaliers last year.
‘It is not every day that you can add a player of Shaquille’s caliber to your team,’ Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge said. ‘His past experience speaks for itself and we believe that he is a great fit for our roster.’
-- Chuck Schilken
