Back In The Day NBA

The Reason Behind Shaquille O'Neal Offering Pat Riley A $41,000 Check

Shandel Richardson

Dec 10, 2022; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat team president Pat Riley looks on during the first half of a game against the San Antonio Spurs at FTX Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Dec 10, 2022; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat team president Pat Riley looks on during the first half of a game against the San Antonio Spurs at FTX Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
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Shaquille O'Neal never takes a backseat to anyone.

He's a one-upper. If a player scored 50 points, O'Neal had 51.

That's why it's no surprise he tried to best LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh when they played for the Miami Heat from 2010-14.

"They talk about LeBron and them and they were the Heatles," O'Neal said during an appearance on the OGs podcast with Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem. "We were the original Heatles."

O'Neal was referring to when he teamed with Dwyane Wade and Haslem to win the first championship in franchise history in 2006. They defeated the Dallas Mavericks in six games.

O'Neal claims this was also the first time a player got Pat Riley to cave on his strict rules.

O'Neal said it started with Riley trying to implement a curfew on road games.


"I'm the first guy to convince Pat to break his ways," O'Neal said. "We were winning, we're playing well. Listen, we're gonna stay out. So Pat came to us one day and said, `We're going to give you curfew and if you break curfew, it's $1,000."'

In typical O'Neal fashion, this was his response.


"I went to his office with a check for $41,000," O'Neal said. "I'm a grown man, that's just not going to happen."

O'Neal said Riley eventually agreed to move practices from the morning to midday. It resulted in the Heat winning 15 of 16 games late in the season. They won 10 straight at one point, falling to the Golden State Warriors.

O'Neal then said Riley returned to the early-morning practices.



Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson

SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com