"This is your time, Shaq"

All right, Shaq, Diesel, Great Aristotle, this is your time, your chance to show you're still the best center in the league, your opportunity to show you're not just some washed-up, indolent, four-ring-wearing, police-badge-carrying dude.

Yeah, Dwyane Wade said he's trying to return. He must be the most courageous player in the league. Not a soul on this planet would have condemned him for taking off the rest of the season and getting surgery to repair his dislocated shoulder. But, nope, being one of the league's fiercest competitors, he's planning a no-strings-attached return, which could see him playing in the last few games of the regular season and then - if the Heat make it - the playoffs.

But, Shaq, don't take this as a sign to relax. Your team's chances of qualifying for the playoffs in the dismal, awful, embarrassing Eastern Conference are on your gigantic shoulders. Your team's offense needs to run through you, because otherwise we'll be watching Jason Williams chuck up 25-footers and Antoine Walker trying to drive the lane like he's 25, and no one wants to see that.

But you, even at 34, can still bang with the league's biggest, baddest dudes. We know this, Shaq. Just the other day Detroit's Dale Davis said in the "Detroit Free Press" that you're still the toughest big man to defend in the league. When you want the ball down low, when you want to score, you're unstoppable. We all know this. You proved against Davis and others last Friday, dominating the Pistons to the tune of 31 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. You play like that - with even a 50 percent D-Wade at your side - and the Pistons will have close to no shot against you in the playoffs.

I personally consider you an enigma, Shaq Daddy. When you play your hardest, I consider you the greatest player of all time. You are that good, and you've proved that with your playoff performances. During your three NBA championship seasons with the Lakers you averaged 30.7, 30.4 and 28.5 points per game, respectively, in the playoffs. You could be counted on when the game mattered most. Your playoff numbers are among the best of all-time, alongside Jordan's (33.4 ppg) and West's (29.1 ppg).

But, Diesel, those guys never took a third of the regular season off. They never relied on a superstar teammate to carry their team to the playoffs while they chased down criminals in Miami (although that is very altruistic of you). In five of your 14 seasons previous to this one, you failed to play 60 regular season games. This will be your sixth.

If you dedicated yourself during the season and off-season, you could have put up Wilt-like numbers your entire career. Heck, you've already played more seasons than Wilt (who dominated the league for most of 14 years). But, it should be noted, with the exception of one season, Wilt never played less than 72 games and played the entire 82 games four times, including his final three seasons. You have a chance to become universally considered the best center to ever play the game.

This is your biggest challenge. You've always had that sidekick. Penny in Orlando. Kobe in L.A. (until you two became more antagonists than sidekicks) and D-Wade in South Beach. These guys have always been healthy, keeping the motor running when you've gone down to your various injuries (the big toe was my favorite).

But now it's the sidekick who's down. And at just 29-29 your Heat are in the seventh spot in the East and up a mere 2½ games on New York and Orlando, who are tied for ninth. One bad streak, and you could be on the outside looking in. This is your time, Shaq. How will you respond? Gary Payton's not gonna save this season. Ditto J-Will, 'Toine, James Posey, Eddie Jones, Udonis Haslam, etc.,. etc. This may be your last shot at a championship – at least with the current makeup of your team. You guys (minus D-Wade) are old, and Pat Riley looks ready to retire for good.

One man will be responsible for either saving this season for the Miami Heat or making this the first year since 1999 that the defending NBA champion did not make the playoffs. And that Bulls team was sans M.J., Pippen, Phil Jackson and Dennis Rodman. Yeah, a few key pieces.

But you've got everybody back from a year ago except for now, of course, your MVP. So now you need to make up for his absence, play through any aches or pains you're feeling and be The Man. As you showed against Detroit, you're certainly capable of it. You're certainly capable of logging 36 minutes and a double-double night in and out.

So let's see it, Shaquille O'Neal. Let's witness the rebirth of arguable the game's greatest center. Hey, if Wilt played 82 games and 42.3 minutes per game during his final season, you can play 35 minutes a night for 24 games until your sidekick returns, can't you?