*sigh* OK, I tried to hide this side of me for a while longer… I… hmmmm… I can’t… Not anymore…Hi, my name is Rubens and I’m a nerd. and, as a nerd, I’ve been thinking about all that Superman thing. Who’s the real Superman? Shaq? Dwight Howard?
All of a sudden, as if hit by a rocket from a distant planet, I realized what was up. See, the DC Universe is, in fact, a multi-verse, with multiple different versions of Earth. So, Shaq turns out to be the Superman of Earth-2 – from here on known as Kal-L – and Dwight, the Superman of Earth-1 – Kal-El.
Now, now, Earth-2 came before earth-1, so it makes sense, chronologicaly. hey, don’t complain with me, send an e-mail to the heads at DC Comics.
Shaq, the veteran player, the last of the old school centers. In one way, that’s what Kal-L is: the last of the old school superheroes. No compromise. No “look at me I’m so dark an edgy”.
O’Neal always had fun with the game. Be it taking advantage of the opportunities to record an album, be it just having fun.
Still. Shaq could be mean when it was needed. Throwing elbows and people around.
In a sense, that’s what Dwight is. He’s the dying bread of centers. The last one. Not as strong and dominant as Kal-L, still strong and dominant enough.
Like Shaq, Dwight knows how to smile, that made a lot of people mad. “He smiles too much”, critics said. Same thing people said about Shaq, same thing people say about Superman. “He’s too good, we want a darker, meaner dude”.
Dwight might never be as dominant offensively as Shaq. Like Kal-El will never be as strong as Kal-L. Still, both are the last of the big men. The last sons of Krypton.
Enjoy Shaq’s last couple of years. Enjoy Dwight’s career. After they retire, we will watch a bunch of euro-style playing soft centers. And Greg Oden.
That’s a cool comparison~ it’s nice to have real-life nice heroes, even if they get criticized for smiling too much!