On to the second player enshrined into Boomer's Wall of Fame....another Boomer childhood favorite...Shaquille O'Neal.
Shaquille O'Neal
Like Griffey, Jr. from a week ago, I fell in love with the guy they called, "Shaq". From having a Orlando Magic #32 jersey, to the poster hanging up in my room, to the Christmas I got the #34 Lakers jersey when he made the move to Los Angeles. I don't know what it was, but I loved Shaq, and still do to this day. Coming out of LSU as a thin 7' giant, Shaq was drafted #1 overall by the Orlando Magic in the 1992 NBA Draft. He played four seasons in the city of "Disney", leading the Magic to the 1995 NBA Finals, where they were swept by the Houston Rockets. After the following year, where they were swept out of the playoffs by the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals, Shaq became a free agent. He landed in "Hollywood", signing with the Lakers and teaming up with Kobe Bryant, where they would win three straight NBA Championships together (2000-2002), with Shaq winning the NBA MVP in 2000 as well as all three NBA Finals MVP's. After a bad break-up with the Lakers/Kobe, Shaq was traded to the Miami Heat and in 2006, he teamed up with another young shooting guard (D. Wade), to win the NBA Championship, his fourth in his career. After a stint in Phoenix, with Steve Nash and the run-and-gun Suns, Shaq was again traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He spent one injury-prone season with LeBron James and the Cavs, as Shaq definitely was not the Shaq of younger years. He ended his 19-year career in Boston, with the Celtics in 2010-11. Shaq ranks 6th on the all-time list in points scored (28, 596), and clearly if he could of avoided some injuries and made just a couple more free throws (haha) he probably would be the all-time leading scorer. Shaq has contributed a lot of his life off and on the court doing various career opportunities other then basketball and multiple charities. With that it's my honor to induct Shaquille O'Neal into Boomer's Wall of Fame.
Best 1-2 Punch of all-time....
Click below to find out what coach made it up on "Boomer's Wall of Fame"
The coach this week to go up onto the Wall of Fame....all-time Wins leader....Pat Summitt.
Pat Summitt
All though, I consider myself a "Geno" fan (Geno Auriemma), Pat Summitt was the face of Women's Basketball for nearly 4 decades. Recently stepping down from her Head Coaching post at the University of Tennessee, due to health issues, Summitt coached the women's program for 38 years. Never really a fan of Summitt, but I have to respect the job she did for so many years in Knoxville and look back on what an accomplishment it was. Dating back to 1974, her first year as head coach, Summitt racked up 1,098 W's (All-Time leader for men's and women's coaches), to only 208 L's. Summitt and the Lady Vols enjoyed 8 NCAA Women's Championships (most all-time), 18 Final Four appearances, the most postseason wins (109), and had 36 20-win seasons and 20 30-win seasons. Under Summitt the Lady Vols would enjoy a 3-peat of NCAA Titles ('96-'98) as well as back-to-back NCAA Titles down the road in '07 and '08. The Lady Vols dominated the SEC Conference winning 16 Regular Season and 16 SEC Tournament Championships. Summitt was the NCAA Coach of the Year 7x's. To date, her 1998 squad was the only team in school history to go undefeated (39-0). Granted she had the pick of the litter when it came to recruiting, but that's because she established a rich tradition of success and a winning attitude at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The court the the current Vol hoop's teams play on is named after her "The Summitt". It is my pleasure to induct into the coaching wing of "Boomer's Wall of Fame", Head Coach Pat Summitt.
