Bulldog
Years ago

Townsville import

Haven't seen this posted yet so I thought I had to share with everyone.

Must be that time of the year again where the fantastical dreamings of club CEOs are revealed to the media. First it was Rodman to be signed by Perth years ago, now it is Shaq touted as the next big signing for Townsville.

Surely they have better things to be doing at this stage of the year like finding players that would come here.

*****

One of the top 10 basketball players the world has ever seen, Shaquille O'Neal, yesterday announced his retirement after 19 seasons in the NBA.

Fans are hopeful CEO Ian Smythe will make enquiries into the availability of Shaq and if he has any interest in playing one last season in Australia, for the Townsville McDonald’s Crocodiles.

"Shaq has won NBA Championships, Olympic Gold Medals, World Championships, MVPs but he’s never won an NBL Championship," said Smythe,

"You never know, stranger things have happened."

The club believes it would be a great opportunity for him to meet all of his fans down under and help the Crocs win their first Championship.

Full story can be found here: http://bit.ly/iXBila

Topic #25663 | Report this topic

Big Sexy
Years ago

I saw this early today and was wondering who would post it. It seems fairly unlikely but puts the NBL in the news.

Reply #319721 | Report this post

No Deal!!
Years ago

Haha, why not ey? might as well put it too him, they have nothing to lose. So when is Iverson arriving in Sydney?

Reply #319725 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

I think someone is smoking the peace pipe

Reply #319726 | Report this post

SRT070
Years ago

At the end of the day it depends on the person. some people are only in it for the money, others for the love of the sport. the fact we have a much shorter season than the NBA may make people interested, and essentially it would be a holiday here for a season with some small spending money (compared to his NBA salary). but then again very high chance he isnt interested.

Reply #319729 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

People are forgeting that the reason shaq retired is that if he wanted to play on, he would need surgery that would keep him out for 9 months, which would pretty much rule him out on the nbl season.

Reply #319732 | Report this post

MB
Years ago

When a guy retires from basketball he goes on a holiday with his family. He gets fat. He relaxes. He doesn't go live in another country for 9 months to play basketball

Reply #319735 | Report this post

Big Marty
Years ago

The hardest part is the nickname...

Would he be called "The Big Shaq-a-dile" or "The Big XXXX"?

Reply #319737 | Report this post

ANON12
Years ago

I wonder if the NBL would give an exemption to Townsville (or possibly any club) that was able to attract Shaq to Australia. It would certainly be a coup for the NBL and would bring in the crowds at every venue IMO.

Reply #319738 | Report this post

The_Champ33
Years ago

This rumour is just bringing news and attention to the NBL.

People are forgetting Shaq has an injury which is a 9-month recovery which rules him out of the NBL season and the NBA.

It would be nice to have a huge name, but it won't be Shaq.

Reply #319740 | Report this post

DJ Rod
Years ago

He was contacted... Still waiting his reply but his injury will take 6 months to recover.

Reply #319749 | Report this post

alexkrad
Years ago

Hopefully this gets picked up by the media outside the NBL website and gives some exposure to the league.. Anyone that knows a little more knows its a joke though but hopefully some hype can be generated

What did happen with those Iverson rumors?

I remember during the last lock out there was talks Luc Longley was going to come back to Perth and bring Pippen with him. Perth Bullcats would have been amazing.

Reply #319750 | Report this post

Mystro
Years ago

Michael Jordan & Dominique Wilkins are hopefully gonna play for the Southland Sharks in the NZNBL next season

Reply #319764 | Report this post

Isaac
Years ago

I would be a bit embarrassed if the 36ers did this. By all means, contact him privately for the hell of it, or @ reply him on Twitter as a jokey enquiry, but to build up and press release is just a gimmick. Might get some cheap publicity, but in the long run it's just going to lead to disappointment or disapproval from fans and non-fans.

When A-League teams target name imports, they generally follow through and pick realistic targets. If you want ex-NBA names, go for Marbury, the other SF guy who went to China, etc.

One time at the pub, we were talking about the 36ers going for Adam Morrison - see what he could do as a pure scoring forward. That'd probably be a bit more realistic.

Reply #319784 | Report this post

LC
Years ago

An NBL team stating they were chasing Andrew Bogut or Patty Mills to play for them in the case of an NBA lockout would be more realistic too...

But as with Shaq, who really knows? He may surprise and come downunder for some fun in the sun...

Reply #319785 | Report this post

phil
Years ago

lol at the guy that said retirees holiday and get fat...

how much fatter can the guy get???

Reply #319808 | Report this post

Simon
Years ago

Typical from the Crocwits..

Reply #319903 | Report this post

Hoops

Townsville import

Recent Posts