When Hall of Famer center Shaquille O'Neal left Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers to join Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat in 2004, he had one goal: winning a championship. That's precisely what happened in their second season together. Shaq and Wade led the Heat to an NBA title against Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks in 2006. O'Neal recently joined The OGs podcast with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller, revealing his conversation with Wade about his falling out with Bryant in LA.
“First thing I did when I came to Miami, I said, ‘Look, you heard a lot of s*** about me. That ain't going to happen with me and you. This is your [team]. I'm a help you; I'm a graduate, and I don't want them to call this no Shaq vs D-Wade,” O'Neal said. “It's your s*** already. I came here because of you because I need a m*********** like you to help me get one more.' So, me and him never had a problem.”
After winning three consecutive championships (1999-02), O'Neal, Bryant, and the Lakers lost 4-2 to the San Antonio Spurs in the conference semifinal round in 2003 before losing 4-1 to the Detriot Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals. The back-to-back disappointing postseason appearances caused a rift between the two, forcing management to choose a side before trading O'Neal to the Heat.
Shaquille O'Neal forced Dwyane Wade to lead the Heat offense in the 2006 NBA Finals
Shaquille O'Neal remained honest with Dwyane Wade, especially during Game 3 of the 2006 NBA Finals after the Dallas Mavericks were on the verge of taking a 3-0 lead. Shaq reminded his former Heat teammate and podcast host, Udonis Haslem.
“I think the first time we all jumped on him was after the Finals when we went down 0-2, and he's looking for us, and we're like, ‘Nah, m***********, go to work. I got four people on me, and I'm not playing well. Go to work.' And then the next four games, it was crazy. He just took off. That's the difference. But they were all great. [I] played with a lot of great guards. Steve Nash was another one. Rondo was another one. I'm just glad I had the opportunity to play with guys like that.”
“He took over the next four games and led us to the championship. That's the difference between Wade and others. He had it from the beginning, and I respected him for it.”
Wade won two more championships with the Heat in 2012 and 2013, alongside LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
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