Shaquille O’Neal, Who Beefed With Kobe Bryant And Penny Hardaway, Once Revealed Why Dwyane Wade And Him Worked

Shaquille O’Neal once admitted to perhaps being the bad guy and broke down why him alongside Dwyane Wade was a good fit. 

Shaquille O’Neal won Player of the Week in his first week in the NBA. So, it’s safe to say that the LSU product felt like he was one of the top dogs in the league from the get-go. However, placing two alphas on the same team may not always work out in everybody’s favor. 

This was the case with both Penny Hardaway and Kobe Bryant. With the latter, Shaq can rest easy knowing that he brought 3 straight championships to the Los Angeles Lakers. Though, it does still sting knowing full well that Kobe believed if they never separated, they could’ve won 10 rings. 

By the time the 2004 NBA season had ended, the relationship between O’Neal and Bryant was unsalvageable from a co-worker standpoint. Jerry Buss would eventually pull the plug on the older 3x Finals MVP and traded him to the Miami Heat, a team that featured another stellar shooting guard.

Also read: Who Is 7’1 Shaquille O’Neal’s Bodyguard And How Did They Meet?

Shaquille O’Neal had an informative lunch with Dwyane Wade when he got to the Miami Heat. 

Shaquille O’Neal was going into his 13th season in the NBA by the time he was traded to the Miami Heat. Both his previous teams featured him beefing with his secondary star. Once he got to Miami, he knew he couldn’t let that happen a 3rd time in a row. 

So, while on the Graham Bensinger Show, he would describe the time he had lunch with Dwyane Wade, the Heat’s rising superstar. The two would go on to chop it up about their roles alongside one another and after more thana decade of being the number one option, Shaq told D-Wade that he wanted to play second fiddle.

This was quite the mature move from Shaq as it takes guts for a man who won a Finals MVP mere 2 years prior to say that he isn’t that guy anymore. Sure, he did play like an MVP in 2004-05 (he still argues with Steve Nash about it to this day) but he knew that Wade being the primary scorer would be best for the team. 

Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade won an NBA title together. 

Shaquille O’Neal and his success with the Los Angeles Lakers often overshadows the fact that the former won a title with the Miami Heat in 2006. Dwyane Wade carried the Heat in that Finals as O’Neal was having a particularly average series. 

Wade put up 34.8 points and grabbed 7.8 rebounds in 6 games against the Dallas Mavericks. Shaq on the other hand, averaged 13.7 points and grabbed 10.2 rebounds a night, a far cry away from him putting up 38 and 17 six years prior.

Also read: Does Shaquille O’Neal Have A PhD? What Field Did The Lakers Legend Earn His Doctorate In?