Shaquille O’Neal was once upon a time forced to adopt a more stringent fitness regime when he made the move from the LA Lakers to the Miami Heat. Arriving at the age of 32, Shaq was still quite enthusiastic about joining Pat Riley’s team, according to his press conference at the time of the move. However, according to his book, Shaq Uncut, O’Neal did so also because he was determined to follow a principle he had already decided on, to embrace Riley’s rigid conditioning program in public.
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This resulted in a hilarious press conference, in which he claimed he planned to walk around the beach naked.
“Shaq seamlessly moved on to Edict Number Three: publicly embrace team president Pat Riley’s rigid conditioning program, in spite of his own reservations. “I just bought a house on the beach, and my wife likes me to walk around naked on the beach, so I’m going to be in very, very top physical shape,” the book claimed.
O’Neal concluded by jokingly asking the fans to not take pictures if they spotted him walking around the beach naked. If they did, Shaq wanted them to share 15% of the profits with him. O’Neal’s decision to embrace Riley’s regime made perfect sense, as he planned to win another ring during his tenure.
This meant that apart from joking about walking naked, Shaq also said that his friend and 24-Hour Fitness CEO Mark Mastrov planned to expand to Miami as well. He ended by encouraging fans to follow his suit and look as good as he did, by the time the season actually started.
O’Neal previously had consistent fitness and weight issues at the Lakers and was effectively ousted after the franchise chose to keep hold of Kobe Bryant instead, a player he had seriously fallen out with. This led to him ensuring that he made Riley happy as he joined the likes of Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem.
O’Neal helped the Miami Heat win their first ring in 2006, showed no qualms in playing second fiddle to Dwyane Wade, and accepted the fact that Wade was the face of the Heat. It all resulted in three successful seasons before he left for the Phoenix Suns, at the age of 35.
Shaquille O’Neal still commanded huge respect in the NBA
Despite the fallout in LA, there was effectively nobody with the raw skillset and dominance that O’Neal possessed, in the NBA. This meant that while the Lakers wanted to trade him, a range of teams showed interest.
This included the Indiana Pacers, who had Larry Bird running things, and the New York Knicks, with Isiah Thomas in charge. Both NBA legends were willing to trade away anybody the Lakers wanted from their rosters, with Thomas offering his entire roster, according to Shaq himself.
Shaq and Udonis Haslem on Miami Heat hanging other jerseys up in rafters
“Mj, Bill Russell never played for the Heat, we built that”
“When it’s Boston, imma say more to make you not like the other side”
“I ain’t heard the sh*t that come out the people mouth in Boston” pic.twitter.com/JUBer70CV1
— Emo Jimmy (@WheelerJaylen) December 28, 2023
This was also true for the Miami Heat, although the Dallas Mavericks were also in the reckoning until the end. Shaq eventually chose the Heat, and the Lakers received three stars and a first-round pick in exchange, according to Lakers Nation.
They managed to get the likes of Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant, while the Lakers moved for Jordan Farmar with the first-round pick. Things, of course, worked out for both parties. Shaq won a championship with the Heat, while the Lakers eventually steadied the ship and won championships of their own under Kobe Bryant, in 2009 and 2010.
