There are a lot of people who find Shaquille O’Neal’s self-marketing antics to be extremely annoying, and that is perfectly understandable. When a guy becomes known for disturbing things like dressing up as a woman and confessing his love for Tom Brady. Whatever your viewpoint, it would be tough to say that Shaq isn’t a master in self-promotion.
On Wednesday afternoon, WEEI.com drew our attention to the fact that Shaq had announced his retirement on Twitter by linking to a short video he posted on TOUT saying, “We did it, 19 years baby. I wanna thank you very much that’s why I’m telling you first: I’m about to retire. Love ya, talk to you soon.”
Rather than tipping off some ESPN insider or picking his favorite reporter and giving them a breaking news story, Shaq decided to make the announcement himself. Assuming he doesn’t pull a Brett Favre and make an enormous deal out of himself only to return, you have to respect the way Shaq went about it. Social media tools are his thing, so why not use them to make one of the most important announcements of his career? It takes the rat race element out of everything and is a pretty refreshing change from what we’ve become used to.
Oh yeah, and it’s safe to say the guy had a pretty decent career, too.
