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02/03 20:04 CST Shaquille O'Neal calls 2006 Miami Heat title his favorite, as
team celebrates 20th anniversary
Shaquille O'Neal calls 2006 Miami Heat title his favorite, as team celebrates
20th anniversary
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
MIAMI (AP) --- Shaquille O'Neal played for four NBA championship teams. And
now, 20 years after his last title, he has one that he can call his favorite.
It was the one he got with the Miami Heat.
The Heat brought back their 2006 title team for a two-day, 20th anniversary
celebration this week, with a gala on Monday followed by an on-court event for
fans to see at their home game against Atlanta on Tuesday. Most of the team was
in attendance, including O'Neal --- who offered what may be a mildly surprising
assessment of that championship run.
"I'm going to throw a word out there that's probably going to shock the
basketball world," O'Neal said. "It's my favorite one because we were not
supposed to win and it was one that I was pressured to win. I needed to get it
done before the other guy got his fourth."
"The other guy" that O'Neal was referring to was Kobe Bryant. He and Bryant won
three titles together with the Los Angeles Lakers, then the relationship went
south and the Lakers traded O'Neal to Miami in the summer of 2004.
Bryant eventually got his fourth and fifth titles to pass O'Neal, and the two
teammates-turned-rivals mended fences to a certain extent before Bryant ---
along with his daughter Gianna and seven others --- died in a helicopter crash
six years ago.
But at that time, O'Neal felt a ton of pressure to get one without Bryant. And
the Heat, in those days, were a bit of a powderkeg that found a way to buck the
odds.
"We were a bunch of misfits that used to argue and fight and do things very
untraditionally," said O'Neal, who estimated the Heat had about 40 internal
fights that season and all of them blew over almost immediately. "But we never
not got along and that's what made it special."
That's the way the 2006 Heat were wired, which is why O'Neal didn't take it
personally when Miami lost the first two games of that season's finals to the
Dallas Mavericks. O'Neal told the story Tuesday of how Gary Payton --- a guard
on that Miami team --- cursed him out after Game 2, saying Dwyane Wade needed
the ball more if the Heat were going to win the series.
"I decided to ruffle some feathers," Payton said, confirming that he went to
coach Pat Riley and asked for changes, then told O'Neal it was time for Wade to
carry the torch for the Heat.
Wade dominated the next four games. Payton made a huge shot to help Miami win
Game 3. The Heat won the title in six games. The fights led to a parade. It was
all worthwhile.
"We had a perfect eight-man rotation," Riley said. "I apologize to numbers 9
through 15, but they used to whip (butt) every day in practice on these guys, I
can tell you that. Made them better."
So, O'Neal's last of his four titles was his favorite.
And for Wade, the first of his three titles was his favorite.
"I never won in high school, I didn't win in college --- I got to the Final
Four. I was that guy that got close," Wade said. "AAU, I got to the final four,
I went to the championship, but I never won one. So, that was the first time in
my life that I showed myself that I can actually lead a team to help win the
championship because I didn't know. And so, it would be my favorite because of
that."
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, an assistant under Riley on that 2006 team, said
having most of the team back together for two days was a thrill. He, Riley, the
ownership group led by managing general partner Micky Arison and CEO Nick
Arison, executive vice president and general manager Andy Elisburg and a slew
of other executives (including 2006 players Alonzo Mourning and Udonis Haslem)
and team officials are still in Miami --- which Spoelstra thinks sets the Heat
apart.
"Other teams that have won championships, they try to bring back a group (and)
it's probably a different ownership group, different management, different
coaching staff, a lot of different things," Spoelstra said. "But this, it just
brings you back. It's like an instant time machine. It was an amazing run and
it kind of put our franchise on a different kind of map in this league."
Coaches, executives and all but three of the players from that 2006 team were
introduced at halftime for an on-court ceremony Tuesday, all wearing custom
jackets to celebrate that championship.
"This will forever be everyone's favorite because it was the first one and this
is the one that really set whatever standard that we're still living by here,"
Wade said. "This set the standard of that because without this championship,
(there) ain't no culture. And so, that's how we can even stand on ?Heat
Culture' and the words that we say because of the championship that was brought
here in '06."
And O'Neal, ever the jokester, paid off a 20-year bet with Wade and Haslem. He
said he would get them Bentleys if the Heat won that title. He presented them
with the Bentleys at halftime Tuesday --- toy versions, but Bentleys
nonetheless.
"Are you not entertained?" O'Neal asked, as the crowd roared.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
