Shaquille O’Neal Out Eight Weeks With Thumb Injury; Is That A Good Thing For The Cavs?

So Andrew Sharp believes the loss of Shaquille O’Neal is a “big win” for the Cavaliers. In fact, to throw some more hyperbole into the mix, he says this about the injury.

I will agree with Andrew on one point: it will certainly make Cleveland more fun to watch. Nobody likes watching the whole “dump it into Shaq as he backs down for five seconds” offense. We’d rather watch LeBron get easy fast breaks and drive and kick to open shooters. It’s more fun watching Cleveland that way.

First of all, the news: Shaquille O’Neal had successful surgery on his right thumb, and the team announced he’s going to be out for eight weeks, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer’s Brian Windhorst.

So that’s good news.

Shaquille O’Neal left Thursday NIght’s game in Boston in the 2nd Quarter with what the Cavaliers are calling a “significant thumb sprain” on his right hand. That significance came to light today when Shaq elected to have surgery on his injured right thumb on Monday and is likely to miss the rest of the regular season.

The usual recovery time for this type of surgery is 6-to-8 weeks and the regular season is over in 7 weeks. It doesn’t take a math whiz to see that the Cavs will likely have to wait until the playoffs to see Shaq in uniform again. His status will be updated following the surgery and a time table for his return to play will be established at that point.