Apparently, it was news in some circles that Shaquille O’Neal is retiring after the 2009-10 season?

Shaq has been counting down the days to retirement - he told a Florida television station that it was 735 days this week - since his days with the Miami Heat and made the countdown part of almost every interview since slipping on a Suns uniform.

Now retirement might not be something you want him to be focused on, but in this case it’s pretty much a matter of fact. (And let’s be honest, if O’Neal weren’t ready to retire in two years, a 38-year-old Shaq might have trouble finding someone to agree with him.)

The important news to Suns fans is that O’Neal has been, according to a Suns insider, “fairly diligent” with his offseason conditioning, and as of late August was only 8 to 10 pounds heavier than where the team would like to see him by the Oct. 30 season opener in San Antonio.

That might go a long way toward cutting down the number of games he would miss during the regular season, although Phoenix is heading into training camp figuring he could miss up to a third of the games if his recent track record is any indication.

O’Neal missed 20 games last season, 42 in 2006-07 and 23 in 2005-06, when the Heat won the NBA title. He has played more than 67 games only once in the last seven seasons and has missed more than 20 games in six of his 16 NBA seasons. The Suns are hoping that with O’Neal staying in decent shape and the Phoenix medical staff keeping his hip in good shape, he will play 60-plus games again this season.

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