"While there will long be debate about Shaquille O'Neal's place amongst the all-time greats and whether he gave a maximum effort throughout his 19-year career, there is no debate about his impact on the NBA as the league loses one of its legendary personalities.

Friends and adversaries had nothing but compliments yesterday when news spread of the big man's retirement. There is general speculation that O'Neal may attempt a return once his sore Achilles' tendon and foot heal, but for now he's done.

O'Neal came to Miami as a savior in 2004 and left in 2008 with harsh words for the Heat's training staff because of a lingering hip injury and unkind remarks about superstar Dwyane Wade. Wade has been mum about O'Neal throughout the postseason, leaving such reflections to another of O'Neal's former teammates, LeBron James, during the series with the Celtics. But after posting a flattering tweet Wednesday, Wade continued his praise.

"First of all, I'm thinking of 19 years,'' Wade said before last night's Game 2 of the NBA Finals. "As a teammate, I'm always appreciative of the opportunity to play with one of the greats ever to put on an NBA jersey. I really learned a lot from him as a professional. We had some great years together. I'm humbled and totally honored to have been a teammate, just seeing the dominance of what he did will never be forgotten and what he did off the court, always fun-loving. Overall, a great career as a person and a player.''"