Shaquille O'Neal Says Miami Heat Culture 'Wasn't Developed Yet' When He First Arrived

Former Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal said the Heat needed to be a winning organization to establish a team culture.

Miami Heat culture is respected across the league and hailed as a blueprint for NBA organizations.

But former Heat champion Shaquille O'Neal says that it didn't develop when he was in Miami. O'Neal played for the Heat from 2004 to 2008, when he was the No. 2 option to Dwyane Wade during their 2006 Finals run.

"The only problem I had with Heat culture is that it wasn't developed yet," O'Neal said on The Big Podcast with Shaq. "Listen to me. When you win, then you can say it works. I'm coming from a place where I won three in a row, went a fourth time and lost. So the culture that I had the blueprint for, I won four out of five. So why would I change that? Like I understand three hour practices and all that, but my guy let us practice an hour and a half and it work. And it worked. I'm the type where if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

O'Neal has the reputation of being stubborn because of his career accomplishments, so it wasn't surprising to see him pushing back against Miami's standards of conducting basketball operations. The Los Angeles Lakers legend came to Miami with three Finals MVPs and two scoring titles. The Heat, on the other hand, had still never been to the Finals and only had two conference finals appearances.

Now, the culture is viewed in admiration because of the franchise's success and diligence to team-oriented basketball and player development. Since O'Neal arrived in 2004, the Heat have more Finals appearances and playoff wins than any team in the league.

So it's safe to say that culture has been developed since then.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.

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