Shaquille O’Neal, Who Once Suffered a $295,000 Blow, Revealed Pat Riley’s Absurd 13% Rule

Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most unique players in the course of the league. Not only can any superstar replicate the same level of dominance that Shaq managed to, but also no player can possibly be close to the stature that the Diesel possessed.

The Big Aristotle stood at 7-foot-1 and weighed more than 340 pounds for the majority of his career. Despite being overweight, the center was extremely agile. Commanding over the paint, O’Neal managed to rack up a pretty terrific resume. 15x All-Star, 2x scoring titles, 1 MVP, 4 championships, and 3 Finals MVPs.

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Shaquille O’Neal reveals Pat Riley’s strange 13% body fat requirement rule

After winning 3 championships with the Lakers, Shaq decided to part ways with Kobe Bryant and co. and joined the Miami Heat.

Now, O’Neal was the heaviest in his career during his stint with LAL, weighing around 395 pounds at one point in time. However, when the superstar was acquired by Pat Riley and co., a contractual obligation made sure that the big man was fit.

In his book, “Shaq Uncut”, the Hall-Of-Famer revealed the details of Riley’s absurd 13% body fat requirement rule. Shaq wrote:

“The summer before I was supposed to report to the Heat training camp I got this letter from Pat. He told me he was looking forward to having me there and the team had a body fat requirement of 10 percent for centers, but because I was bigger he was willing to let me come in at 13 percent. At the bottom, there was all this fine print that tells you, “If you don’t make the body fat percentage, you will be fined $1,000. The next time you are fined again, and the third time you are suspended a game.” I’m reading all this and I’m groaning, because I know what my body needs.

By the end of a long NBA season, my body is so tired, so sore, so abused, I don’t do much basketball stuff in the summer at all. For the first two months, I do next to nothing, to give my body a chance to recover. Sometimes I gain weight, sometimes I don’t.”

The rule did benefit the Heat. Throughout his tenure with the Heat, O’Neal weighed around 325 pounds, among the lighter of his career.

How did Shaq lose out on $295,000?

During a Lakers-Raptors clash in 2004, despite recording a staggering 36-point performance, Shaq had some distasteful comments in regard to the officiating of the contest.

In an interview after the game, Shaq was asked about the referees, to which the then-Lakers star didn’t hold back.

“David Stern wonders why the league is losing money, [poor officiating is] why. People pay good money to come watch these athletes pay and [the referees] try to take over the f****n game.”

The NBA wasn’t going to entertain O’Neal’s remarks. Stern and co. decided to suspend him, without pay, for the team’s next game, resulting in a $295,000 blow.

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