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Shaq arranges funeral for Mikan.
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themadcowtipper
Smells faintly of rancid stilton.
How does Shaq plan to do undercover work when he is all over the news...Bad move Shaq.....j/k Really cool of Shaq
Unresponsive Bee Victim
Member
I've never been a big Shaq fan but Mikan's story about his life after basketball was so heartbreaking. Shaq helping out with this all is a great move by him.
Smiles and Cries
Member
Shaq >>> Kobe
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
even when shaq was on the lakers and i had to hate him i couldn't help but feel he was hilarious. his one-liners and soundbites always made me laugh.
now that he is no longer a laker i can say it loud and clear: shaq is top notch
but seriously this is an awesome thing shaq is doing. i'm sure the monetary setbacks for him are a drop in the bucket considering his salary, but it is still a class act move all the way
now that he is no longer a laker i can say it loud and clear: shaq is top notch
but seriously this is an awesome thing shaq is doing. i'm sure the monetary setbacks for him are a drop in the bucket considering his salary, but it is still a class act move all the way
this literally costs him nothing (what 15k tops out of his huge yearly salary). However, class act move by shaq. It is very considerate of him to cover the costs. As a kings fan, I am glad he is no longer a Laker because he is a really funny and good guy.
where can i read up on Mikan's post basketball life?
where can i read up on Mikan's post basketball life?
Flakster99
Member
Yep, major props for Shaq, well said and well done. /salute
Ninja Scooter
Member
Of course Shaq makes sure everyone knows about it when he does something charitable. I wonder if Mikan's casket will have a bigass superman symbol on it 
.
in all seriousness, it was kinda tacky for him to announce it on national tv like that, asking the Mikan family to call him (or the "heat front office) instead of just privately calling them, but im not gonna knock a guy for doing a lot more than i have ever done so kudos to the big fella.
.in all seriousness, it was kinda tacky for him to announce it on national tv like that, asking the Mikan family to call him (or the "heat front office) instead of just privately calling them, but im not gonna knock a guy for doing a lot more than i have ever done so kudos to the big fella.
Ninja Scooter said:Of course Shaq makes sure everyone knows about it when he does something charitable. I wonder if Mikan's casket will have a bigass superman symbol on it
in all seriousness, it was kinda tacky for him to announce it on national tv like that, asking the Mikan family to call him (or the "heat front office) instead of just privately calling them, but im not gonna knock a guy for doing a lot more than i have ever done so kudos to the big fella.
Why the hell was it tacky? Shaq thinks alot of Mikan and wanted the public to know how much he thought of him.
Jesus some people can spin anything in to a negative.
The funniest thing bout the Shaq had is...the guy's humor.. so he's gonna be mad at people, do stupid shit, say stupid shit, just like anybody else.
So deal with it.
BTW that Scoop article is so f'n on point it's not even funny. Shaq's influence this year hasn't been in his scoring.. it's been in the confidence he's instilled in the rest of the team around him to go out and kick ass... even when he can't.... all the starters averages are up... bench players are coming in and being aggressive... say what you want about his production being down... because of him... everybody elses' production is up.
DarienA said:
It sounded tacky to me dude. Granted we are both diehard Lakers fan's so that makes it suspect, but it seems tacky to announce something like that in public. Makes it seem like you are doing it for the attention.
I really doubt that was Shaq's intent, it just came off tacky when I heard it.
Bluecondor
Member
bionic77 said:
But - Shaq wanted to comment publicly on Mikan's death to show his respect for the man. He then added the line about paying for the funeral as part of this statement of respect. I would see it as grand standing if, say, Shaq offered to pay for the funeral of some movie star who he never met. But - this was a man who Shaq knew and who had offered advice and support to Shaq when he was coming up. You could say that their friendship gave him the right to offer such a gesture.
Bluecondor said:
Just how I percieved the event dude. I understand how it could be seen another way by someone else. I thought everything else he said was cool and the right thing to do, just thought part of it came off tacky. Not that it matters anyways. It was a 5 second moment on television and I wouldn't hold that against anyone. I have my problems with Shaq (and a lot of other athletes), but as often as Shaq fucks up he usually makes up for it by doing things for the community.
Off topic, but I wonder if half of the young players even know who Mikan was. I bet most of them don't.
Ninja Scooter
Member
im not saying its a bad thing, like i said i commend Shaq for it, im just saying Shaq isn't one to turn away an oppurtunity to tell everyone all the great things he does. This is the same guy that would driive a bigass truck with his picture on the side around LA's inner city giving toys to kids and inviting every camera crew that would come. Thats just his style. "Larger than Life" and all that mess. I said it seemed tacky to ME (and apparently many other people who like to be alittle more modest when being charitable) but im not knocking the guy.
cubanb said:
I'm sure google has plenty of sites about Mikan, but one thing that has been underreported was the fact that Mikan was the first commish of the ABA and the red, white, and blue ball was his idea.
Pretty ironic that it's called the "money ball" considering Mikan's later years and wishes for better pension plans.
Class move by Shaq, I hope no one thinks this is disengenuous.
Classy move by Shaq. But to somehow spin this into a bad reflection on Kobe Bryant or any other sports figures is ridiculous. Many basketball players (Kobe included) and other athletes give tons of money to charity, they just don't happen to announce it on national TV. Not putting down Shaq at all, but the way you guys turn this around on others is ridiculous. Tim Duncan probably does more charity work than anyone else in the NBA, but because he is low key, no one would ever make a thread about it.
michael000
Banned
For kobe it isn't charity... it's community service! badum bum psssh!
I can't tell you what he did immediately after retiring but there was a great piece done on Mikan a few months ago on ESPN covering his financial problems due to his diabetes and how players who played and retired prior to 65' are being absolutely fucked by the NBA and the Player's Association. Basically those players who played prior to 65' only get $1700 a month pension compared to a pension that's large enough to easily live off of for those post 65'. In Mikan's case it was bad enough that mikan had to sell most of his memorabilia (mvp trophies, rings, etc.) just to pay for his diabetes treatments, they said the guy was in tears and asking if he could at least keep one of his mvp's. I heard through some sports show (can't remember which) that Bob Cousy is going through the same type of deal. That retirement pension is one of the things that's being worked on as well for the next collective bargaining agreement.
What Shaq's doing is class act and i won't down him in any way, but if he really cares he should repurchase all of Mikans memorabilia and give it back to the family. Now that would be very very very classy. Not that pro players of any sport are better than normal folks but the current players are only enjoying the lives they lead now because of guys like mikan and that can't be overstated enough. It's a travesty if they can't find justify giving these older players $20 million a year out of a total of $2.5 billion (that's less than 1%). From the ESPN piece i mentioned earlier at that time they said it probably wouldn't get added in. Of course now that mikan has died and the pensions of the pre-65' players has become public knowledge it'll probably go through and everyone will act like they're doing a great thing by finally passing it. Of course it'll only be because it's "good press".
cubanb said:
I can't tell you what he did immediately after retiring but there was a great piece done on Mikan a few months ago on ESPN covering his financial problems due to his diabetes and how players who played and retired prior to 65' are being absolutely fucked by the NBA and the Player's Association. Basically those players who played prior to 65' only get $1700 a month pension compared to a pension that's large enough to easily live off of for those post 65'. In Mikan's case it was bad enough that mikan had to sell most of his memorabilia (mvp trophies, rings, etc.) just to pay for his diabetes treatments, they said the guy was in tears and asking if he could at least keep one of his mvp's. I heard through some sports show (can't remember which) that Bob Cousy is going through the same type of deal. That retirement pension is one of the things that's being worked on as well for the next collective bargaining agreement.
What Shaq's doing is class act and i won't down him in any way, but if he really cares he should repurchase all of Mikans memorabilia and give it back to the family. Now that would be very very very classy. Not that pro players of any sport are better than normal folks but the current players are only enjoying the lives they lead now because of guys like mikan and that can't be overstated enough. It's a travesty if they can't find justify giving these older players $20 million a year out of a total of $2.5 billion (that's less than 1%). From the ESPN piece i mentioned earlier at that time they said it probably wouldn't get added in. Of course now that mikan has died and the pensions of the pre-65' players has become public knowledge it'll probably go through and everyone will act like they're doing a great thing by finally passing it. Of course it'll only be because it's "good press".
The Faceless Master
Member
:lol :lol :loletiolate said:
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
michael000 said:
I have no doubt that Shaq would do something like that if he thought of it... the NBA needs to get their act together and take care of their HOF players like the NFL and MLB (NFL contracts suck ass but HOF players are taken care of for life)
Great King Bowser
Property of Kaz Harai
Sorry is the white guy Mikan on that Sports Illustrated cover?
michael000 said:
Yeah, that was a good story and very sad, especially hearing Mikan asking to keep one of his trophies. The problem wasn't even all Mikan's health if I recall correctly, it seemed the pension wasn't even enough to care for his wife's medical needs, much less his own. He went on national tv, minus a leg or two, this giant of a man and a legend, and basically begged for more. It was a pretty tragic interview. There was some sort of "legal reason" why the pre-65ers couldn't get the pension of the post guys, but the difference was staggering. The old generation will be gone soon, it would be a more than fair gesture to take care of the barnstormers and their wives. $1700 a month isn't exactly chicken feed, but there's no reason why it couldn't be something like $5000 or so a month. These guys aren't looking to get rich, they just want to be able to pay their bills.
Pro athletes deserve a sizable pension in my opinion. Unlike a career where a person may work 50 years, these athletes squeeze in their career in 6-10 years. Competative sports take a lot out of the body, and many times these graceful giants that entertained us end up with fake knees and hips and in wheelchairs due directly to the game. They sacrifice their body for the sport, and the current players should help take care of their medical needs.
Raoul Duke said:
Exactly...so why bring this up in this thread? It smacks of pettiness.
Besides, you already forget when Kobe talked to Janus a few years ago, and sent him his shoes? It isn't like he's never done a good thing for anybody.
etiolate said:
Okay, that was funny. :lol
Funny, seems the old timers in all these sports get fucked over. I've heard of some really bad pension cases by ex-NFL'ers, and old time NHL'ers got fucked up the ass by that cocksucker Alan Eagleson when he ran the PA. If you're not gonna take care of the guys who came before you, what good are you?
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