The Miami Heat announced plans to retire Shaquille O'Neal‘s No. 32 in a special halftime ceremony on Dec. 22 when the team hosts the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Arena.
The newly inducted Hall of Famer will become the 12th player in NBA history to have his jersey retired by more than one franchise. His famous No. 34 jersey from his championship-filled stint with the Lakers was retired in 2013.
O'Neal played a huge role on the Heat's road to their first-ever championship in 2006, playing sidekick to All-Star Dwyane Wade for three-and-a-half seasons, totaling 205 games for the organization.
Despite his short stay in South Beach, Heat president and former head coach Pat Riley was frank during a September interview, where he said that bringing O'Neal to the Heat- more than uniting the Big Three – was his biggest acquisition as a member of the front office.
“I'll say this, and I mean this,” Riley said, “Shaq's acquisition was bigger than any acquisition that we ever made, including the Big Three.”
“The seminal moment to really make us really, really legitimate,” he continued.” “(O'Neal) turned our franchise around. He gave us real legitimacy.”
He was originally acquired by the Heat from the Lakers in a trade on July 14, 2004 and re-signed as a free agent on August 2, 2005.
O'Neal averaged 19.6 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks during his stint with the Heat and his Hall of Fame numbers include 28,596 points (seventh), 2,732 blocks (eighth) and 13,099 rebounds (14th).
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