Shaquille O' Neal and Allen Iverson are undoubtedly first ballot NBA hall of famers.Not only do they share that but both of their seasons came to an end a day apart. Iverson announced he will not be returning to team to deal with family issues while Shaq will miss 6-8 weeks with a thumb injury.To top it off both were averaging career lows. Iverson with 13.8 ppg for the lowly Sixers and Shaq was averaging a miniscule 12.0 for the league's best Cleveland Cavaliers.
Both were brought to their respective teams to provide veteran leadership and hopefully a few more "W's" in the process. Now both teams have to move on without the superstars.Shaq went down with a thumb injury in the second Qaurter of the Cavs game against the Celtics last Thursday night. While Iverson has been out since February while tending to his four year old daughters illness.
The good thing for Shaq is his team will certainly make the playoffs and can return by then to give the team that dominant post presence they will need down the stretch. The length of his recovery is normally 6-8 weeks but he said he believes it will be about 4-6 weeks. It makes us wonder, could that be the last time the hall of famers ever play in the regular season again?