Miami’s Heat’s reputation as one of the most respected teams in the NBA has primarily rested on the able shoulders of Pat Riley. His blue-collar mentality has made him indispensable over the decades and has earned him a reputation that precedes him. As the president of basketball operations, Riley has never compromised his philosophy, even when a superstar of the magnitude of Shaquille O’Neal was at stake.
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Plenty of times teams go above and beyond to accommodate a superstar but it is something the Heat have simply refused to accommodate. One of the prime examples of their fortitude was when they acquired Shaquille O’Neal in 2004.
O’Neal’s time with the Los Angeles Lakers had run its course following the 2003-04 season. The three-time NBA champion was in a rather open dispute with Lakers’ star Kobe Bryant at the time and wanted a change of scenery, so he felt Miami was the perfect choice.
Riley remembers the events leading up to O’Neal’s arrival as well as the first thing he did once Shaq became a member of the Heat.
“[Shaq] wanted to come here,” Riley said on the Dan Le Betard Show. “I’ll never forget when he came here, the first thing I did was weigh him.”
Riley didn’t waste any time addressing the fitness concerns surrounding O’Neal. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if O’Neal felt offended by Riley’s actions. However, Riley ran a tight ship, and conditioning has always been a top priority. Every player in the league understood that.
“He was open to everything. I knew Shaq had one more in him. He was 383 [pounds] at the time and about 14% body fat. By the end of the year, he was 323 and 12%. That’s 60 lbs that he lost,” Riley said.
Shaq’s transformation unlocked another level in the big man’s performance. Riley knew O’Neal was capable of spearheading another championship team, which is exactly what he did.
The Hall of Fame center would capture his fourth championship in 2006 with the Heat. It would turn out that by making him work hard, Riley had also reignited a fire for fitness within O’Neal that exceeded the basketball court.
Before O’Neal would return to the NBA mountaintop, he would go on to venture into the business side of the fitness world. Six days after he joined the Heat, Shaq signed a deal with 24 Hour Fitness to open a plethora of facilities across Florida.
Fast forward to 2026, and O’Neal is the owner of at least forty 24 Hour Fitness gyms. These gyms do offer personalized training to help get people in better shape, similar to what Riley did for Shaq. Hopefully, Shaq didn’t put people through the same rigorous routine that Riley made him go through.
