Shaq Says Early Retirement Not In the Cards

ESPN.com is reporting that Miami Heat center Shaquille O’Neal told ESPN Radio’s Dr. Jack Ramsey he has no plans on retiring early. The report say’s that Shaq told Ramsey that there is no validity to rumors that he may retire because of frustration over his ailing left hip. The veteran who is in his sixteenth season in the Association, and his fourth with Miami hurt his hip back on December 22, when while diving for a loose ball he slid into the scorers table. He exacerbated it on December 26, and missed some games as he traveled to Los Angeles in search of medical assistance. O’Neal was shut down earlier this month to give his hip time to heal, the earliest date he could return would be February 6, as the Heat travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons. Miami is in one of the worst skids in team history as they have lost 15 straight games. O’Neal told the former NBA coach he intends to honor his contract “ I’m the son of an army drill sergeant and when we enlist, we go out full-term. So I got two years left on my term and then, after that, I’ll be looking to do other things.”