
Robin Lopez
There comes a point in a season where if you are a rookie (Robin Lopez) and you just so happen to play with a dominant big man by the name of Shaq, you are going to learn a thing or two about what it takes to get to that level of dominance. You are going to have an opportunity most players, and more notably your brother Brook, simply don’t have. You are going to have a chance to come in to the league and start your career with the advice of a future lock for the hall of fame, multiple MVP awards, Rookie of the year, #1 draft pick, named to the 50 greatest players in nba history list, Olympic Gold Medalist, and arguably the single best big man of all time.
Yeah, that’s the guy you are supposed to play behind. He’s legitimately old enough to be somebody’s Grandfather. Well after people had crossed him off the list of dominant big men on their way out of the league due in part to his hip problem, he gets traded to the Suns. And at 37 years old, he’s still throwing up numbers like
29-11 (11-08-08)
29-13 (11-14-08)
19-17 (11-22-08)
28-12 (12-29-08)
24-13 (12-30-08)
45-11 (02-27-09)
I’m not listing them all, I’m sure you get the picture. Robin Lopez is sitting behind some tough shoes to fill. But during a timeout of a recent Phoenix Suns loss against the Portland Trailblazers, Shaq had some words for Robin Lopez as reported by AZCentral.com.
“Put somebody on their (expletive) back,” O’Neal said he told Lopez. “Don’t let anybody oopsy-doopsy layup on you and be laughing at you. Have you ever seen me get dunked on? No, because I put (expletive) on their backs. Period.
“If you’re going to be a big man, be a big man. Don’t be out there (expletive) around. Lay somebody on their (expletive) back. Period. Wilt (Chamberlain) told me that. Bill Russell told me that. Hakeem (Olajuwon) told me that. All the great big men told me that. . . . That’s what I’m trying to teach him, instead of just being out there like a loose tree blowing in the wind. Do something.”
I don’t know what Lopez said to Shaq or what caused it. I’m not sure I really care. But since news of Shaq’s talk with Robin Lopez broke, Lopez has got to make a decision at how to deal with being publicly assaulted by such a prominant sports figure.
Lopez, who has been lackluster all season long, now has to take one of two roads. The first road is essentially the road he has been traveling down all season long. Down this road, should he continue to take this path, leads to a nice comfortable couch in a giant home drinking a beer and hanging out with his brothers while watching Brook Lopez play for the Nets in a league for which he once had a chance.
Sure, Robin Lopez is 7 feet tall but unfortunately (or fortunately) being really tall doesn’t make you qualified to play in the NBA. That’s why Sun Ming Ming is playing in the ABA just to get a workout and some training in hopes that one day an NBA team will pick him up and pay him to train in the D-League for yet an even closer chance at making it to the bench to play scrub minutes. For those of you that don’t know, the ABA is a joke of a league who has once had 57 teams, a 4 point shot and teams that didn’t make the trip to other states to even play in a playoff game.
The other road, however, is to take Shaq’s advice. Sure he’s out there making jokes and getting himself in the news and even Twittering during halftime, but the one thing you can’t say about the guy is that he doesn’t absolutely dominate the game. For a 37 year old to average 18-8.5 in 30 minutes a game, he still has his magic bag of tricks. It would probably be a good idea to obtain as many of those tricks as possible while you can.
Those who have the most success in life are most often those with the ability to be humbled by others. Those who can take a little bit of humility and see it for what it is and reflect on their emotions rather than project them will be all the better for it.
Fans have heard that dreadful P word (potential) too many times only to see it fizz out and die. As a Phoenix Suns fan I’d say it’s about time to start laying some [expletive]’s on their back.