Shaq Retires From NBA to Revive Rap Career?

Ex-Heat center Shaquille O'Neal, one of the finest to ever play in the NBA, has decided to call it a career. The retirement news came from Tout, a new Twitter-like social media tool that seems to have discovered that Shaq's tweets are quite popular. "I'm about to retire," he confirms in his first video posting on the Tout site. Later on, he asked fans to help him come up with a new nickname.

Now, there's been no official word regarding Shaq's return to the rap game, but a lot of people (if this blogger counts as a lot of people) are already eager for "da return" of his slam-dunk flow. Here a few reasons that the baller should choose a moniker that flows off his lips as easily as "knick-knack Shaq attack, give a dog a bone."

"(I Know I Got) Skillz" is a fairly accurate statement.
Now perhaps Shaquille O'Neal isn't ready to lace flows next to Busta Rhymes and Big Boi, but he's got a rich, deep voice that sounds like he listened to a lot of Geto Boys in his dorm room at LSU. Turns out he's dextrous enough to unfold comfortably on this track from 1993's Shaq Diesel featuring Def Jef. "Rhymin' is like hoopin', I'm already a legend," he spits towards the end. It has been more than a decade, so we'll see how much rust has formed.



Producers like working with him.
Unlike plenty of "real" rappers, Shaq only bothers with the best. Among his producers to date:
Erick Sermon, RZA, Redman, Warren G, DJ Quik, Mobb Deep, Clark Kent, Easy Mo Bee, Dr. Dre, and ?uestlove. Technically the last two are from the Shaquille O'Neal Presents His Superfriends, Vol. 1 album, which was unfortunately scheduled for release on September 11, 2001, but never surfaced.

Artists love working with him.
That Superfriends album credits reads like a Kanye West or a Diddy album. Not one, but two tracks featuring Boyz II Men's Shawn Stockman. Plus, the ?uestlove-produced "In the Sun" featuring Common and Black Thought, and collaborations with Ludacris, Dr. Dre, George Clinton, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def and Talib Kweli, Twista, Trina, Peter Gunz, Angie Stone, 112, Nate Dogg, and admittedly some ill-advised rap-rock garbage with members of Korn and 311.

He's funny.
Some "Ether"-level jabs passed off as a joke in "Kobe, Tell Me How My Ass Tastes."

Follow County Grind on Facebook and Twitter: @CountyGrind.