Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne Wade formed a fantastic duo during their Heat days, especially with the former acting like a ‘big brother’ for the younger players on the team. Shaq was inadvertently responsible for creating a great player out of Wade. However, while the two had a friendly relationship, things had gotten very sour between O’Neal and coach Pat Riley. In fact, as Dwyane shared on his Instagram story, it was the reason why the big man got traded out of Miami.
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Pat Riley is considered one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, even having coached greats like Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. However, things quickly de-escalated between the ‘Big Man’ and the veteran coach during their time at the Heat. The docuseries SHAQ on HBO Max highlights an incident where O’Neal was traded to the Phoenix Suns following an altercation with Riley. Dwayne Wade recently shared a clip from the show on his Instagram to further affirm this incident, calling it a “True Story.”
Shaquille O’Neal got traded due to his deteriorating relationship with coach Pat Riley
The docuseries SHAQ on HBO Max revealed the story behind O’Neal’s trade to the Phoenix Suns in 2007. While Shaq faced several controversial moments during his career, none came close to his conflict with coach Pat Riley. In fact, this kerfuffle escalated to the extent where the coach and the player would go neck-to-neck and almost go to blows with each other.
When Shaq wanted to stand up for the rookies such as Jason Williams and Dwayne Wade, the conflict between the coach and the veteran player escalated even further. Later, Pat Riley, in the documentary, said,
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“If I wanted to send a message to any player, I would always bring it up in front of the team. So this is the way you get the real truth out. And then, if there’s other people who disagree with me, come out!”
This was when Shaq took the chance to stand against his coach. Riley further continued,
“And he said something, you know, graphic, which I didn’t like. I didn’t want it. But if you want it, okay, let’s go. He’s doing this [pointing his finger] to my face. I’m yelling so hard that spittles coming out of my mouth and spittles coming out of his mouth. So Alonzo (Mourning) got between us and he said ‘Shaq, don’t do it.'”
This was perhaps one of the lowest points in Shaq’s career, as he got traded to the Phoenix Suns right after. As he was trying to return to the team after an MRI scan in 2007, Shaq’s wife informed him about his trade deal from the Heat to the Suns. This in particular was beyond radical, considering Shaq was one of their most crucial championship-winning pieces in 2008.
In the same docuseries, Shaq revealed that he was yet to get past the incident. Speaking on this, he said,
“You’re the senate, but I’m the President. Don’t challenge me Mr. Senator man. Oh, you want to be the big man? you get out. Motherf***er put me out. Some people don’t like to be challenged. Me included.”
This was a classic case of two alphas coming together, something that seldom ever works out well. And really, it’s a shame considering how well Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade got on.
Shaq and Dwayne Wade’s relationship at the Miami Heat
Shaq and Dwayne Wade reached the 2004-05 Eastern Conference finals together. However, they lost to the Detroit Pistons during that season. The following year, the Miami Heat came back as a much better side, absolutely dominating on their way to an NBA title in 2006. This was Shaq’s fourth ring, with all his previous ones coming as part of his three-peat with the Lakers. However, for Wade, it was his very first.
Dwayne Wade had fond words to describe his relationship with Shaq, especially during their championship-winning season. He said,
“Shaq man, he was just so amazing for me as a young kid who he did not know, he didn’t have any prior relationship with. He [Shaq] wanted to come to Miami to win a championship, he wanted to get another championship before Kobe. Everyone knows this. And I was probably the one he looked at and deemed ‘this the one that can help me’.”
Shaq moved on to the Phoenix Suns, after leaving a lasting impact on a young Wade, who would continue an illustrious career at the Heat. Perhaps, the relationship Wade enjoys with Jimmy Butler now is reminiscent of his with Shaq during the early 2000s.
