{"id":94257,"date":"2025-08-28T07:26:39","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T07:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=94257"},"modified":"2025-08-28T07:26:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T07:26:39","slug":"shaquille-oneal-shares-wild-story-about-pat-riley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=94257","title":{"rendered":"Shaquille O’Neal Shares Wild Story About Pat Riley"},"content":{"rendered":"

You are here: Home\/<\/span> Sports\/<\/span> NBA\/<\/span> Shaquille O\u2019Neal Shares Wild Story About Pat Riley<\/p>\n

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\"Shaquille
(Photo by Eliot J. Schechter\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Shaquille O\u2019Neal\u2019s time with the Miami Heat was obviously very productive and resulted in a championship, but it wasn\u2019t without its friction and drama.<\/p>\n

Now, all these years later, O\u2019Neal is sharing a story about how Pat Riley welcomed him to the team.<\/p>\n

Speaking with the Straight Game Podcast, O\u2019Neal said that Riley demanded he get in better shape when he moved to Miami.<\/p>\n

However, O\u2019Neal didn\u2019t want to be compared to other players, and he didn\u2019t want to be told what to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first got there, [Pat Riley] was like, \u2018Oh, your body fat needs to be 11.\u2019 You all know Pat was a stat guy. One day, he brought in Alonzo Mourning. He said, \u2018Lonzo, take your shirt off.\u2019 He said, \u2018I need you to look like this.\u2019 But then I pulled out my piece of paper and said, \u2018This is how much I average on Alonzo. 39, 17, and 4,\u201d O\u2019Neal said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Shaq on Pat Riley:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wanted me to look more like Alonzo Mourning. So I pulled out a paper and responded \u2018This is how much I average on Alonzo. 39, 17, and 4.\u2019\u201d \ud83d\udcaf<\/p>\n

(via @straightgamepod) pic.twitter.com\/1lwmSpnNGB<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/LegionHoops\/status\/1960517175267221511?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1960517175267221511%7Ctwgr%5Eae90e77835dd1c82f0121d4587025db31fa463bf%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecoldwire.com%2Fshaquille-oneal-shares-wild-story-about-pat-riley%2F<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

O\u2019Neal fully understood that he was much bigger than Alonzo Mourning, but he was confident about what he could contribute to the team.<\/p>\n

He knew that with his size came a lot of power, and that was exactly what the Heat needed.<\/p>\n

He was right, because Miami was soon going all the way to the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

Just a year after moving to the Heat, O\u2019Neal and his squad claimed a championship, and no one was talking about his size then.<\/p>\n

Both O\u2019Neal and Riley have a history of speaking their minds and not backing down from their opinions.<\/p>\n

They also have histories of winning a lot in the NBA, so there is a reason they dig their heels in.<\/p>\n

This partnership wasn\u2019t without its problems, but it ultimately led to great things for O\u2019Neal, Riley, and the Heat.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0 Shaquille O’Neal’s time with the Miami Heat was obviously very productive and resulted in a championship, but it wasn’t without its friction and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":94262,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nShaquille O'Neal Shares Wild Story About Pat Riley - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=94257\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shaquille O'Neal Shares Wild Story About Pat Riley - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0 Shaquille O'Neal's time with the Miami Heat was obviously very productive and resulted in a championship, but it wasn't without its friction and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=94257\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-28T07:26:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Rinrin-2-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=94257\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=94257\",\"name\":\"Shaquille O'Neal Shares Wild Story About Pat Riley - 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