Shaq's as big, just not as bad as before

Shaquille O'Neal has been the biggest, baddest player in the NBA for more than 15 years now. But Shaq's reign — some would say, reign of terror — is quickly coming to an end.

The Miami Heat giant is still big, he's just not so bad anymore. Well, he and the Heat are bad, just not in the good sense.

Shaq made his one and only Salt Lake City appearance this past week. At one point he landed hard on Jazz guard Ronnie Brewer making the EnergySolutions Arena crowd gasp. Brewer, somehow, some way, got up and was able to continue to play.

The 7-1 O'Neal, meanwhile, didn't have a major impact on the game other than flattening Brewer. Shaq — who is listed as weighing 325 pounds, but I'd bet him a box of Krispy Kremes he's at least 15 pounds more than that — was actually outplayed by Jazz center Mehmet Okur.

As a result, the Heat aren't even lukewarm. Despite having star guard Dwyane Wade almost back to form after off-season surgeries, Miami lost its fifth straight game on Friday night to fall to an abysmal 4-15 for the year.

O'Neal, a 14-time All-Star, sat for the entire fourth quarter of Friday night's game against the undersized Golden State Warriors despite not being hurt or in foul trouble. Heat coach Pat Riley simply felt Miami had a better chance of winning the close contest with Shaq sitting on the bench.

O'Neal is averaging career lows of 14.9 points and 7.8 rebounds this year. Those are decent numbers for a center in the NBA in this day and age where there is a lack of quality low-post players.

But for O'Neal, his averages are about 11 points and four rebounds per game off his career numbers. He's now gone six straight games without even getting double digit shot attempts from the field, as he's become less and less a focal point of the Heat's offense.

So what's wrong with the NBA's Superman? That's easy. His kryptonite is simply his relative old age. The wear and tear of lugging a 7-1, alleged 325-pound body up and down the NBA hardwood for 1,000 regular season games — and 198 more in the playoffs — has simply taken its toll.

Truth be told, O'Neal, 35, is playing better now than many other of the all-time best centers were at this stage of their careers.

There was a time when top centers never even made it to their 16th NBA seasons. Wilt Chamberlain played 14 years. Bill Russell was in the league for 13.