Shaq is going to bring a lot to the Suns if he can stay healthy. His greatest impact may be the effect he has on the talented players around him.

Reason with me, my friends.

A weightlifter gets calluses on his hands from exposure to free-weights. The more he/she works out, the more the calluses grow and harden.

Subconsciously, professional athletes can become calloused to the sport they play. They think they’re giving it their best but they’re really not. They realize their job is a business and, many times, the business end of professional sports can rob them of their passion.

You may not believe me or might think a professional athlete should never become calloused to his job but I’ll guarantee you if we examined your life (and mine) we’d find some calluses.

Are your passions as pure and galvanized as they once were?

What professional athletes need more than anything else – other than talent – is to remember the game of their youth, to rediscover the passion for the game and play it with the excitement and creativity they had when they were UNCERTAIN of where their talent would take them.

Shaq needs the Suns to make him remember, to make him regain the passion. The Suns need Shaq to remember and, in so doing, infuse the locker-room with hope and rejuvenation.

The “SunShaq Redemption” could be one of the better stories in the NBA this season and the early returns are already paying dividends – and Shaq hasn’t played a game!

Has anyone seen Stat play since Shaq became a Sun? For those that haven’t, think points, rebounds, energy, defense and smiles; think of a kid on a playground that realizes one sunny day that he’s better than all other kids around him and the only thing keeping him from ruling the day is his own effort. Now imagine that same kid one day looking over his shoulder and seeing his older brother smiling at him through the chain-link-fence.

This is not to say that Amare is Shaq’s “little buddy.” Stoudemire is a strong personality, has nothing in common with Gilligan and Shaq is much too style-savvy to wear a skipper’s cap. But even if he were, never forget, it was “Gilligan’s Island” not the Skipper’s.