"On the surface, the two transcendent stories in the NBA this week could not have seemed less linked.

In South Florida, the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks were stepping up in an NBA Finals that took only two games to prove compelling.

In Central Florida, Shaquille O'Neal was stepping down, announcing his retirement.

To some, the timing came off as nothing more than Shaq stealing the moment, driving the media up Florida's Turnpike when the plan had been flights to Big D.

But go back to February 2008, and the weeks prior, and you will find another layer of why the Heat and Mavericks have carried such animus over the years, and why Heat owner Micky Arison and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban have this NBA Finals rivalry at a higher level, and for more than what Miami did to Dallas in the 2006 NBA Finals.

Shaq, you see, in many ways stood in the middle of 2008 where he stood in the middle of this past season -- immobile, out of the lineup, seemingly finished.

Or was he? We already know the spoiler, that he would go on to play for the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, before formally calling it quits Friday at his Orlando-area home due to a balky Achilles.

But back in 2008 it was a hip that sidelined him a third of the way into the season, or at least that was the cover story, as the Heat were careening to a league-worst 15-67 finish. By late December 2007, he said he could not play, despite, according to one insider, wrestling on the locker-room carpet with teammates before taking a seat on the bench on game nights in a suit."