Shaquille O'Neal may be one of the best basketball players on
the planet, but he should have been benched in this year's National
Basketball Association championships.
Or so concludes a new statistical measurement developed by
Lenovo Group Ltd. the world's third-largest personal computer
maker. Introduced by Lenovo and the NBA on Monday, the statistic is
supposed show which five players combine to make the best team on
the court at any one time.
In June's NBA finals, for instance, the Lenovo Stat showed the
best combination for the champion Miami Heat included Dwyane Wade,
James Posey, Gary Payton, Antoine Walker, and Alonzo Mourning.
Missing from the list is O'Neal, the 7'1" Miami Heat centre who
is an 11-times NBA All-Star and named one of the 50 Greatest
Players in league history. But it was with Mourning - rather than
O'Neal - that the Heat had the greatest point advantage during the
championships, according to the Lenovo Stat.
Lenovo is launching the statistic as part of a new multi-year
marketing partnership with the NBA. Under the partnership, Lenovo
will place notebook and desktop computers in all 30 NBA arenas for
use by coaches and referees.
NBA Commissioner David Stern, who said the statistic would give
coaches "enormous additional data," declined to comment on the
conclusion about O'Neal.
"Shaq is a friend of mine," he joked.
(China Daily October 25, 2006)