From Florida Today.
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051110/COLUMNISTS0306/511100331/1065/SPORTS
Speaking of injuries, should anyone be surprised that Shaquille O'Neal is nursing another injury, this time a sprained ankle that could sideline him for 13 games?
When Shaq was traded to Miami before last season, there was outrage in Orlando that the Magic didn't make an effort to bring him back. Me? I commended the Magic. Shaq is on his downside, I wrote. At his age, and his weight, he's a torn ACL waiting to happen.
Well, you wouldn't believe the heat (pun intended) I took for writing that, the implication from Miami fans being that I didn't know what I was talking about. Perhaps. But what I do know is that when you carry around 400-or-so pounds and go through 80-plus games of pounding every year and you're closing in on your mid-30s, things are going to break down. Especially at your joints.
It doesn't help that it's only at rare times when Shaq shows enough dedication to get, and stay, in shape. If he got fat and out of shape on Phil Jackson, what makes the Heat think he'll not do the same to someone like Stan Van Gundy?