Last Night Shaq Gave Without A Doubt One Of The Best Speeches You'll Ever Hear

There were a lot of awesome parts to last night's All Star game. Seeing Steph go nuclear, LeBron's game winner, KG wanted to beat the shit out of Ray, MJ stealing the show at the end, it was one of the better All Star Sundays in recent memory. Some of that stuff we had seen before or already knew though. We've seen Steph put on insane shooting displays before, in games that actually count. We've seen LeBron hit game winners and we already knew that KG still hates Ray like poison. I don't think anyone saw MJ for the first time last night.

That's why Shaq's speech stood out. Watch that entire 4 minute clip. It's one of the more honest and raw speeches you'll ever see from a professional athlete. Not only that, but one as dominant as Shaq. I think that's one of the coolest parts of this 75 Year Anniversary team. We got to see living legends, actual gods of the sport, all come together to celebrate one another and the game we all love. What I loved most about it is guys like Shaq, who in no way shape or form have to be humble, lets us into his brain about what this moment meant for him. You wouldn't know Shaq is known as the most dominant big man of all time by many while listening to him in that speech. You'd think he was like a role player who was just happy to be there. Remember, Shaq and Chuck spend a lot of time shitting on current players when they rightfully deserve it. To hear him talk about the legends was both refreshing and very awesome. 

We're at the point now where Shaq is the most universally beloved former player right? How many times do we get a story of Shaq doing something awesome? Buying guys engagement rings, buying kids laptops and shoes just because he can. Now a speech like that. The Kobe part, are you kidding? Emotional city in my house watching that. 

I can only imagine what it was like to be on that stage and in those photos with that group of talent. What a photo

and I found it interesting to hear about how all these legends went on to impact Shaq's (and Chuck's) career. There's just something about an athlete being humble and appreciative that does it for me, and it's even better when that person is a gentle giant like Shaq. I dunno if it's his voice, his stature, how he dominated, or maybe a combination of all of it. I've seen a lot of athlete speeches and I'm pretty sure this one was as close as you can get to the top.

The other more sad part of last night was when you think about it, this was really the last time some of these older living legends are going to be able to be honored like this. Maybe that's why it meant more while I watched all of it. A lot of these guys aren't exactly young. My guess is in another 25 years, there's going to be a player talking about Shaq like Shaq did for those that motivated and helped him.

Just an awesome way to spend 4 minutes if you have the time and more reinforcement that Shaq is truly different in every aspect of his life. Pretty cool.