Am I wrong here, or was winning a title motivation last year also? After all, the Cavs DID have the best regular season record in the NBA and held all kinds of hopes for winning a title. It’s not like Shaq was playing for the Nets or somebody last season. In fact, he’s in Boston this year for the same reason he was in Cleveland last year — to piggyback his way to a title. Shaq hasn’t been motivated, hasn’t been in shape, for years. Kind of like how Rasheed Wallace didn’t all of a sudden become a gymrat when he came to New England, don’t expect Shaq to be motivated just because he now lives in the W Hotel. Instead of training for basketball season this summer, he’s still going to be racing Dale Earnhardt Jr. and playing volleyball against women. That’s not gonna change.

Don’t get me wrong, I still expect Shaq to be a factor. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he averaged 10.5 and 6.5. Just don’t expect him to be some highly-driven dude. That just isn’t Shaq and, at 38 years old, we’ve got to just realize that Shaq is who we thought he was — a lazy dude who squanders some of his talent but still has the size and skill to make an impact. Now, if we could just teach him how to hedge the pick and roll.