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Cleveland welcomes Shaq
Manila Bulletin

CLEVELAND (AP) — Shaquille O'Neal, the big man Cleveland is counting on to deliver this championship-starved city a title,
was welcomed to town Sunday with a star-studded party that included sports celebrities and Average Joes looking to rub
elbows with them.

Fashionably late, O'Neal arrived at 11:15 p.m. as fans, one of them holding a life-size cardboard cutout of O'Neal in an Orlando
Magic uniform, cheered on the sidewalks and took pictures of the town's newest superstar.

O'Neal has had a good first impression of Cleveland, where he'll join the NBA's reigning most valuable player LeBron James.

    “It's a nice town,” he said. “The entertainment is
    already here. Everything is here. The Browns are
    here, LeBron is here and now I'm here.”

    The 37-year-old O'Neal was acquired by the
    Cavaliers in June, shortly after the team was
    eliminated by Orlando in the Eastern Conference
    playoffs. The Cavs, who open camp Monday, think
    he is the missing piece to help James win his first
    title – and Cleveland's first in a major sport since
    1964.

    The Cavs won 66 games in the regular season, 10
    in the playoffs and still came up short last season.

    With O'Neal, there are no more excuses.

    “I'm settling into a damn good team, so the sky is the
    limit for us,” said O'Neal, who has spent the past
    week working out with James and other players at
    the Cavs' training facility.