While Shaquille O’Neal helped lead the Miami Heat to their first NBA championship in 2006 and mentored young Dwyane Wade to stardom, his departure from the team was marked by a bitter conflict with Pat Riley .
Interestingly, the breaking point wasn’t “The Big Aristotle’s” reported attempt to confront Riley when he was traded to the Phoenix Suns – it was the latter’s accusation that the 7’1″ center was faking his injury to avoid playing.
O’Neal was hurt
During the 2007-08 season, a 35-year-old O’Neal struggled with stamping his dominance. With multiple injuries hampering his time on the court, he was unable to live up to his reputation of averaging 20 points per game. Moreover, with the team being unable to strike the right balance in its roster, things got so out of hand that the Heat, at one point, was on a 15-game losing streak. It began on Christmas Day and extended all the way to the end of January. After such an abysmal state, it became certain that the three-time Finals MVP was going to be traded.
Furthermore, the real damage came when Suns’ GM Steve Kerr revealed to O’Neal that Riley had been telling people that the 15-time All-Star was fabricating his injuries to avoid playing for Miami. In his memoir ‘Shaq Uncut,’ that cut deeper than any previous issues between them…