Shaquille O’Neal had a target on his back, especially during his prime years when he was the most dominant player in the league. This meant that every move the big fella made was being analyzed under a microscope. In his 2011 book Shaq Uncut, he discussed one such incident that led to him being angry at a Celtics big man.
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Shaq recalled how Bill Walton took subtle shots at him in 2008 when he returned to the floor after an injury.
“As soon as I got back on the court Pat [Riley] must have called up his boy Bill Walton, because the next thing you know Bill is on television saying, ‘Shaq’s running around there looking fine. Why couldn’t he do that in Miami?’” Shaq wrote.
Riley had been very impatient with Shaq’s injury woes at the end of his career, mostly pushing a narrative that the big man was faking his health issues to not play for Miami anymore. Shaq thought Walton was also singing the Miami Heat President’s tune.
The four-time NBA Champion admitted that he took “great offense” to the Celtics legend’s comment.
When he was asked about the same by the media, Shaq didn’t hold back in giving Walton a piece of his mind. He said, “Look at what Mr. Walton has said and the one thing I hate is a hypocrite. So if I’m ‘faking’ an injury, his entire playing career is a fake.”
“Here’s Bill Walton, who was injured most of his career, who actually sued a team doctor because he thought they messed him up, talking about me and my injuries? No. Not a chance I’m going to sit there and listen to that bullsh*t,” the big fella wrote in his book, recalling his thoughts at the time.
Shaq believed that as a fellow big man, Walton should’ve followed the “pecking order.”
He further told reporters, “I heard Mr. Walton’s comments and I think Mr. Walton has broken the Big Man Pecking Order Code 225.7, which means his résumé isn’t quite good enough to speak on what I’ve done.”
He brought up Walton’s career accomplishments to highlight how he was a giant compared to the Celtics big man. So it wasn’t apt for Walton to call him out.
Shaquille O’Neal’s rift with Pat Riley
Shaq arrived in Miami in 2004 after a successful stint with the Los Angeles Lakers. Two years later, he won his fourth and the Heat’s first NBA title. But things started to go downhill after that. In February 2008, things took a turn for the worse during a practice session when Shaq and Riley had a face-to-face argument.
Shaq wrote in his book, “So we’re about to start practice, and Jason Williams comes in about ten seconds late. Pat, being Pat, starts swearing at him and screaming, ‘Get the hell out of here!’ He and JWill start yelling at each other, and JWill turns to go and kicks over the training cart, sending pieces of Wrigley gum flying all over the place.”
As Williams was walking away, Shaq stepped in and asked him to stay, disobeying Riley’s orders to his face. This made the Godfather furious and he directed his anger toward Shaq. “Pat is screaming at me and says if I don’t like it, then I should get the hell out of practice, too. That’s when I said, ‘Why don’t you make me?'” Shaq recalled.
He wrote, “I start taking a couple of steps towards Pat. Udonis Haslem steps in and I shove him out of the way. Then Zo tries to grab me, and I throw him aside like he’s a rag doll. Now it’s me and Riley face-to-face, jaw-to-jaw. I’m poking him in the chest and he keeps slapping my finger away. It’s getting nasty. Noisy, too.”
Even during the tense situation, Shaq understood that he could not go any further than that. However, the damage was done and that marked the beginning of the end of his time in Miami. He was traded to Phoenix shortly after the incident.
