Shaq announces retirement

BOSTON -- He was a prolific producer of rebounds and record albums. And nicknames, too, as if at 7-foot-1 and 350 pounds he was too big for the simple "Shaq" that made him an instantly recognizable, one-name star in all of his endeavors.

Shaquille O'Neal had more than 28,000 points and almost 4 million Twitter followers. He appeared in six NBA finals, three times as the MVP, and seven feature films, twice in a starring role.

A 15-time All-Star, four-time champion and the 2000 NBA Most Valuable Player, the 39-year-old O'Neal announced his retirement on Twitter on Wednesday after spending most of his 19th season on the Boston Celtics bench, in street clothes because of leg injuries.

Along with a mid-afternoon tweet saying, "im retiring," O'Neal included a link to a 16-second video of him saying, "We did it; 19 years, baby. Thank you very much. That's why I'm telling you first: I'm about to retire. Love you. Talk to you soon."