By Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY
The Big Shamrock it is.
Veteran center Shaquille O'Neal, 38, signed a two-year deal with the Boston Celtics Wednesday, giving the Celtics another piece to their version of a super-team, albeit older than the one the Miami Heat assembled with guard Dwyane Wade and forwards LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
GAME ON!: Shaq, Celts a good fit?
Guards Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo, forwards Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and centers Jermaine O'Neal and O'Neal are not ready to hand anything to the Heat. The Celtics also signed free-agent center Jermaine O'Neal.
This adds even more interest to the NBA's season opener between the Heat and Celtics in Boston on Oct. 26. O'Neal won one of his four championships rings with the Heat in 2006.
"It is not every day that you can add a player of Shaquille's caliber to your team," said Danny Ainge, Boston's president of basketball operations. "His past experience speaks for itself and we believe that he is a great fit for our roster."
The Celtics were this decade's original super team, when they brought in Garnett and Ray Allen and joined them with Pierce in 2007-08. The Celtics won the championship that season.
O'Neal's addition will also help soften the loss of forward Rasheed Wallace, who is expected to retire, and the absence of center Kendrick Perkins, who will miss at least two months after tearing his ACL in Game 6 of the Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
O'Neal, a 15-time All-Star and No. 7 scorer in NBA history, was looking for work after his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers expired. He was one of the last big names on the free-agent market.
"I am honored to be joining the Celtics," O'Neal said. "I have played against Paul, Ray, Kevin, Rajon, and Jermaine 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."
With the Cavaliers last season, O'Neal averaged 12 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks. He missed Cleveland's final 23 regular-season games with a thumb injury that required surgery.
In the second round of the playoffs against the Celtics, O'Neal was Cleveland's second-best player, averaging 13.5 points and five rebounds. He shot 51.8% from the field in the six-game series.
"I am very excited," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "Adding a player, like Shaq, is a major plus and it fills a void for our team. He's a real nice piece of the puzzle and he will complement us in where we want to go this coming season."
The three-time Finals MVP will become the 26th player to play for the Lakers and Celtics — the NBA's two most storied franchises — according to Elias Sports Bureau and the 11th to join the Celtics after the playing for the Lakers.
O'Neal wasn't always interested in playing for the Celtics. In his 1993 book Shaq Attaq written with Sports Illustrated's Jack McCallum, O'Neal wrote, "Did I want to play for the Los Angeles Lakers? Man, what do you think? Of course I did. The Lakers were the Lakers. They had tradition, but they weren't old and musty like the Boston Celtics."
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