The 2006 championship-winning Miami Heat were led by Dwyane Wade, and there’s no doubt that this was the run that cemented him as the superstar in the game. Besides him, the squad was full of quality veterans, the most notable of which was Shaquille O’Neal.
There is no doubt that Shaquille O’Neal came to the Miami Heat as a superstar, having won three championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. However, he understood that he was getting older by the time he was joining the Miami Heat, and Dwyane Wade recently revealed that O’Neal was very honest about the Heat being Wade’s team.
“Shaq is a very honest man to me. Our relationship is a one-two punch, he came in and he sat down just like this, it was very candid, it was very short he was like, ‘Listen, Flash, this is your team, I’m gonna help you become one of the greatest to play this game, I wanna help you be a superstar.”
“When I ask for the ball, throw it to this hand’.” (58:20)
There is no doubt that understanding one’s role is important when it comes to winning championships. Though the Miami Heat did not win in 2005, they found success in 2006, though Dwyane Wade would not end up winning more championships until LeBron James later joined the Heat.
During the 2006 playoff run, Dwyane Wade averaged 28.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 5.7 APG. He managed to defeat MVP Dirk Nowitzki in the Finals, and it is easy to see why that run made him a Miami Heat legend.
Shaquille O’Neal Once Opened Up About Passing Dwyane Wade The Torch
Shaquille O’Neal clearly appreciated Dwyane Wade, and once, he opened up about passing the torch to Dwyane Wade, claiming that it’d be “foolish” of him to get his numbers with Wade on the team.
“There comes a time in every great player’s career where they have to pass the torch. And me at the tender age of 34, when you got a guy that young and that spectacular, I think it would’ve been foolish of me to try to average 40 points a game when you have somebody like that. So, basically what I did was, I just passed the torch to a humble guy. You know, a lot of people asked me to compare my three and I gave my Godfather answer. One is like Alfredo, one is like Sonnu and one is like Michael. So what did the Godfather do? What did I do? I made Dwyane an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
It is clear that O’Neal sensed greatness in Wade. Sometimes, all one needs is a mentor to steer one in that direction, and Dwyane Wade clearly had one of the best mentors the game had to offer.
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