Quote:
Originally Posted by jay3189
Shaq was a beast, they created the offensive 3 seconds in the paint rule because of shaq killing people down low. I would not say Shaq declined in 2003. From 2004 to 2007 with the Heat, he was still the best center in the league. Miami would not win the championship in 2006 without him.
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He was not as good in 2003 as he was in 2002, because he wasn't healthy. He was always nursing the same foot injury. Even though he put up roughly the same numbers, I noticed that year that he was a just a little bit slower and less explosive than the year before (because he was little bit fatter.) After that year there was a pretty steep dropoff- again, because he was always carrying a little extra weight. And yes, he was still the best center in the league for several years after that, but he was not the unstoppable terrifying juggernaut that was putting up 30 and 14 very night.