Pat Riley is known for running a tight ship in Miami. He was the one who introduced the famous ‘Heat Culture’ and expected his athletes to adhere by it. One of Riley’s many expectations has always been following the body fat rule. However, if Antoine Walker’s revelation about Shaquille O’Neal on the Club 520 Podcast is to be believed, the body fat rules weren’t as effective.
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Walker recently sat down for a conversation with Jeff Teague and his crew where he discussed Riley’s fitness requirements. As per Walker, Shaq used to weigh 320 when he was with the Miami Heat.
However, during his time with the Lakers, which is also considered to be his prime, Shaq was way above that weight class. Walker said, “Shaq said he played the Lakers at 370. That’s what he says. I mean, I don’t know how true that is but Shaq says he played at the Lakers at 370.” The three-time All-Star marveled over the fact that the big fella was so dominant despite being nearly double in size of a boxing super heavyweight.
He said, “Shaq was MVP. He won multiple [titles] at that weight.” It’s well documented that Shaq and Riley used to bump heads over the less than 13% body fat rule. But if we look at it from Shaq’s perspective, he had all the reasons to be in denial of Riley’s strategy. Afterall, Shaq did win three championships, one MVP, and several more accolades while being at a much higher weight.
However, Riley’s points made sense too. The Heat did win a championship in 2006 while adhering to the body fat rules.
But that would be the extent of its success because their victories in the early 2010s had more to do with the talent pool they had. Despite the resentment towards his rule, Riley has always maintained that it’s important for athletes to be super fit.
Weighing Shaquille O’Neal was the first thing Pat Riley did when he joined the Heat
Although Shaq was coming to Miami after a bitter episode in LA, he was still the biggest star in the league at the time. But his star status was about to take the backseat in Miami as Riley’s team was expected to function the way he wanted them to. During a conversation on LeBatardShow, Riley recalled his first experience with Shaq.
He said, “When Shaq came, he wanted to come here, and I’ll never forget. The first thing I did was weigh him… He was open to everything, and I knew Shaq had one more in him…I knew he had it in him. He was 383 at the time and about 14 percent body fat, or more, which was, for Shaq… I mean, Shaq is a big man. He’s a 380-pound guy.”
Riley then put him through the wringer to cut down on the body fat and make him a fit player. By the end of the year, he was down to 12% body fat and weighed 323. Although he ended up falling out with Riley towards the end, Shaq was a different player during his Heat days because of him.
