It's become common to see video compilations of Shaquille O'Neal's lone season with the Boston Celtics to drive home the point that something is not what it used to be. Technically, it is true that Shaq was no longer the basketball Goliath when he had his swan song in Boston, but make no mistake: Shaq was good.
Fans tend to confuse the terms "past their prime" with "bad." Plenty of all-time players who were in the same situation as Shaq fared even worse in their last seasons. Think Hakeem Olajuwon in Toronto or Patrick Ewing in Orlando. Do NBA fans even remember that Scottie Pippen and Allen Iverson played their last seasons with the teams they played for during their primes?
But Shaq, for what he couldn't do anymore, was one of the best steals of the Danny Ainge era. To say that he was good as a Celtic wouldn't do it enough justice. Celtics Shaq was a cheat code.
Even with his athleticism diminished and his availability very limited, Shaq changed a lot when he was on the floor for Boston. Coming into the 2010-11 season, many wondered how Boston would compensate for Kendrick Perkins' absence, as semi-ridiculous as that sounds.
Shaq didn't just replace Perk. His presence took Boston to a level we hadn't seen in the Big 3 and Rondo era. If Boston going 28-9 in the games O'Neal played wasn't solid proof of that, the analytics back it up too.
Like man he was GOOD. pic.twitter.com/DsYo4NcQT9
— Dale🏌️♂️ (@CelticsDale) July 27, 2026
Make no mistake. When Shaq was on the floor, the Celtics looked downright invincible. It was like a playground for Rajon Rondo. One of the best point guards in the league had one of the league's best two-way big men in Kevin Garnett, one of the league's best pure scorers in Paul Pierce, and one of the league's best sharpshooters in Ray Allen, all at his disposal.
And yet, if opponents tried to have their bases covered by trying to blanket all three of them, there was Shaq right there to dominate the little resistance thrown at him, which he easily took advantage of, even if he wasn't an All-Star anymore. Having one of the league's best floor generals like Rondo just made basketball the simplest it had ever been for Shaq, as ironic as that sounds.
Here's what's even crazier: that starting five appeared in 18 games together and went 15-3. You know what their net rating was as a unit? Plus-20.5, per NBA.com.
Remember how Blake Griffin actually made pretty good use of himself in Boston despite his decline? Well, Shaq was in the same ballpark, but only better. In fact, part of why the Celtics were comfortable trading Perkins was because of how much more threatening they were with O'Neal at the five when they were healthy.
If only things didn't go wrong...
Any younger folks out there who weren't watching back when Shaq was the Big Shamrock: the lone year with O'Neal failed for the same reason all old teams fail: the injury risk proved too great.
For as good as Shaq still was in his last NBA season, his body couldn't hold up anymore. When the Celtics traded Perkins, many anticipated that Shaq was Boston's ace in the hole, given what had happened earlier. But sadly, in the very game in which he returned from a prolonged absence, O'Neal and the Celtics learned the hard way that Father Time can sneak up on you at the worst possible time.
The Celtics knew what they were signing up for when they brought him in, but it's hard not to think it could have worked if they had put O'Neal on the same plan they put Al Horford on, maybe even stricter.
If Boston had won Banner 18 that year with Shaq healthy, there's a strong possibility his time in Boston would not have become an internet meme. Even better, everyone knew at the time he signed with Boston entirely because he wanted to match Kobe Bryant's ring total.
No one blames Shaq for why it didn't work out in Boston, but he was also good enough to prove that his time as a Celtic should not be treated as a joke.
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