Who Remembers Mikki Claus?

Santa Gets Back to Work

Santa Provides the Ballots

Dr. Santa Cures Linsanity

Freestyle Santa

I just wanted to pass along one of my favorite Shaq clips of all time.

I like to believe that Shaq came up with these lyrics right then and there, on the spot. But I doubt this was the first time he jammed too many syllables into this particular ring tone. I have a hunch that this vintage theme song from the 1980's was his go to beat for all of his cell-phone-rap antics. And why wouldn't it be? It sounds awesome.

Other cool things: Shaq's Planet Hollywood T-Shirt, Shaq giving props to Kobe in this rap = exact opposite of this rap, and Brian Shaw.

Poor Vlade.

Cheers,

Bryan

Just Another Shaq Claus Thursday

Streak-Ending Santa

Is Santa Going Down?

11 BLOCK-A-s FOR SANTA IBAKA!

Republicans Buy Sneakers, Too

Happy Birthday today to Michael Jordan.

Despite our best efforts, we have thus far been unable to find a photo of HIS AIRNESS that qualifies him for induction into NBA Santas. Trust us, we've been trying.

Anyway, since it is his birthday and all, we thought we'd share the best we've been able to come up with in terms of Jordan in a Santa hat.

Santas Get Back on Track

Just Another Shaq Claus Thursday

Santa Spurs are Streaking

Still the Best Santa

Santa Says: Christmas Ain't Over!

Playing the game with an unspoken language

David,

I guess I should concede three points

1. Blake Griffin is more athletic freak than creative freak.
2. Golden State might not have a single franchise dude, let alone two - but I needed to say that they did in order to setup the SUPER ORIGINAL joke I had about the Miami Heat.
3. Jordan might have been wearing a black shirt on a black background instead of white on white. Except your video wasn't totally what I remembered (maybe I misremembered). Regardless, nice find!

Santas Come Up Short

I was in the stands during the New York Liberty's first season

Bryan,

As someone who spends most of his free time on sports and the arts, I've long believed creativity to be an underrated element of athletic greatness. But I think it's important to understand what we mean by that term.

You mentioned Blake Griffin and his spectacular dunks. I would argue that, while he is a walking highlight real and a franchise or near-franchise player, Griffin is not an especially creative player (Jay Caspian Kang apparently agrees with me). He only has a few post moves, and he relies far too much on his raw physical talents. Even his dunks, while extraordinary in their explosiveness, are not especially creative (JaVale McGee did far more interesting things in the dunk contest last year, but lost anyway -- because, you know, he's not a spokesperson for the event's sponsor).

Just Another Shaq Claus Thursday

The Creativity Tag

Dear David,
Did you ever see that one ESPN interview with Michael Jordan sometime after his career was over, probably for some stupid shoe release or something, where he mentioned that he's felt unfulfiled since leaving basketball because he's lost the opportunity to create? I remember the interview fairly well but I can't find it anywhere on the internet to prove that it existed. I think Jordan was wearing all white against a white background - which is totally plausible knowing his style. In the same interview Jordan also mentionned that even though he could no longer physically challenge Kobe and Lebron in a game of one-on-one, "mentally [he] could whip their butts." Does he mean that he understands the game better than they do or does he mean that he can imagine himself beating them? Because if it's the latter than I can imagine myself beating all three of them at once, just like I probably imagined this whole interview from the past. Let's pretend I didn't, though.

Monta Claus on Fire!

King of Christmas

Santa State of Mind

Never Write Off Santa

Just Another Shaq Claus Thursday

By my counts, today is our 38th Shaq Claus Thursday.

In case you're unfamiliar, every Thursday we've been posting a photo of Shaq, or Shaq-a-claus as he fashions himself, to honor the big man that we refer to as the original NBA Santa.

If he wasn't the first, then he at least has been the most prolific. We figure he's been dressing up as Shaq-a-claus pretty much every year to help the needy-even after he retired. Here's our proof of Shaq-a-Claus through the ages:

http://nbasantas.blogspot.com/search/label/SHAQ.

Obviously it's not that Shaq-a-Claus was the first NBA player to give baq-a-claus. In this of age public image consciousness, the vast majority of NBA players seem to have no problem keeping their wealth in perspective a (even though they got kids to feed.) And it's no secret Shaq certainly pioneered the social media movement, first with twitter and then with tout - even announcing his retirement via the latter. Most importantly, though, Shaq-a-Claus embraced the idea of laughing at himself. And nothing qualifies as laughing at yourself more than dressing up as Santa Claus.

So it's our opinion that if Shaq-a-Claus hadn't made being a professional basketball player who dresses up as Santa Claus on occassion so cool, then there would not have been this website. That's why today, as we do every Thursday, we honor you, Shaq-a-Claus. You are indeed very quotatious and dressing up as Santa has been your most shaqtastic random act of Shaqness.

Santa's Revenge