Pat Riley‘s disciplinary methods were met with resistance from Shaquille O’Neal during their time together at the Miami Heat. The latter even accused the 78-year-old’s surveillance for turning Dwyane Wade uptight both on and off the court. Shaq later shed light on the situation in detail as he revealed the lesser-known aspects in his autobiography, Shaq Uncut in 2011.
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The 4x champion first put the limelight on Riley’s controlling and authoritative nature as an NBA executive. He stated,
“Even when Pat wasn’t coaching, it was definitely his team. He was there, all the time, probably drawing up plays in his office. He had cameras everywhere. Cameras on the practice court, cameras in the locker room, probably even cameras in the bathroom. He wanted to know everything.”
When Shaq joined Miami, he found DWade was uptight and the locker room scenario used to be tense. The 3x Finals MVP wanted to shoulder the responsibility of bringing joy to his teammates, especially to the shooting guard.
“That was my first job. As soon as I arrived I thought, I got to loosen this brother up.”
The 7ft 1″ icon wanted to implement the change by injecting more self-confidence and self-belief within the Chicago-born through his words. “I told him, ‘Hey, man, you’ve got to realize who you are and the power you have and stop tiptoeing around here so timidly all the time, because with your talent any team in the league would want you. So keep that in the back of your head,'” Diesel highlighted.
The scenario revealed the paradoxical nature of the league as both parties kept faith in their process. On one hand, Riley’s strict rules changed the course of the franchise and even provided Wade with a strong foundation to build on as a rookie. On the other hand, the then 3x champion center also wanted to put his stamp on the squad as a leader. In the end, a mixture of both helped the organization win its first-ever championship in 2006.
Shaq averaged 13.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 6 games in the 2006 NBA Finals. Whereas, Wade led the team from front averaging 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 6 games and was named the Finals MVP.
The complicated relationship between Shaquille O’Neal and Pat Riley
When the 2000 MVP wanted to leave the Los Angeles Lakers, Riley made active efforts to sign him. Despite eventually teaming up, the chemistry between them deteriorated soon after while sharing a common goal for the team. Shaq once reflected on that period, mentioning,
“Me and Pat Riley never saw eye to eye. And what happened in Miami [2006 NBA champions]?”.
The friction between the stalwarts resulted in a departure for one of them and the president certainly wasn’t the one. Thus, last year, the former Heat player shed light on that period publicly. The Big Aristotle stated, “They got rid of me and Gary in Miami because Gary and I were the only ones that didn’t listen to Pat”. “So Pat would call the play, and Gary would be like, ‘I’m not running that. I’m throwing the ball to Shaq,'” he added.
Riley had his reasons for coming to that decision as he wanted to maintain his authority on the roster. Shaq’s actions were nullifying his command of the team as the duo failed to come to a mutual understanding. For the long-term sustainability of the franchise, the Heat thus had to let go of one of the most dominant players of all time.
Interestingly, Riley’s methodical approach paid off as the organization won two more championships soon after. So, breaking down the circumstances to objectively assess the rightness of each individual remains impossible to this day.
