FROM MIKAN TO MIKE

Shaquille O’Neal’s deep appreciation for basketball history and the pioneers who paved his way was never more apparent than following George Mikan’s death in 2005.

Mikan, the NBA’s first transcendent superstar, had fallen upon hard financial times during the later years of his life because of deteriorating health, soaring medical bills and a paltry basketball pension. When Shaq heard that Mikan’s relatives might have problems paying for his funeral, he told them not to worry. The Hall of Fame center whose favorite superhero is Superman swooped in to save the day and took care of all the expenses.

“Without number 99 (Mikan), there is no me,’’ O’Neal explained. Heck, without Mikan, there might be no NBA. Before a generation of Michael Jordan lovers wanted to be like Mike, professional basketball needed to be like Mikan in order to survive. The bespectacled, 6-foot-10 center