Shaquille O’Neal Named 3 Things That Made Dwyane Wade Great Before Their 2006 NBA Championship Win

Shaquille O'Neal spoke about three things regarding Dwyane Wade that made him so good before the Miami Heat won the NBA championship in 2006.

3 Min Read

Credit: Fadeaway World

  • Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal won a championship together for the Miami Heat in 2006
  • Shaquille O’Neal mentioned three things about Dwyane Wade that made him great before they won it all
  • Shaq said Wade was nice and humble, and that he didn’t know how good he could be

Shaquille O’Neal played with some legendary guards throughout his stellar 19-year NBA career. He won championships alongside two of the greatest to ever do it. 

The three-peat with Kobe Bryant on the Los Angeles Lakers is talked about a lot, but Shaquille O’Neal won his fourth championship playing for the Miami Heat alongside Dwyane Wade. And in 2005, before they won it all, Shaq named three things that made Wade so great. 

“First of all, he’s a nice, humble kid,” Shaquille O’Neal said. “Second of all, I don’t think he knows how good he can be. Third of all, he listens and he’s a great player. I know in this league, in order to win a championship, you have to have a great one-two punch.”

(starts at 14:22 minutes)

Shaquille O’Neal was a bonafide superstar but he was on the decline by the time he played with Dwyane Wade. Despite this, their partnership resulted in a championship, and Shaq’s words about Wade turned out to be prophetic. 

In 2004-05, Dwyane Wade averaged 24.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game for the Miami Heat. By 2005-06, he had taken another step, averaging 27.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game. 


Dwyane Wade Carried The Miami Heat In The NBA Finals

Shaquille O’Neal’s words about Wade not knowing how good he could be became apparent in the 2006 NBA Finals. After falling to a 2-0 deficit against the Dallas Mavericks, Wade took over the series and ended up averaging 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game to help his team win 4-2.

His performance earned him a Finals MVP and was one of the most impressive performances in the history of the Finals. Despite this, Wade stayed as nice and humble as he had been before, forging an incredible career that saw him win two more championships. 

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Divij Kulkarni is an NBA columnist for Fadeaway World. He has covered the NBA and the English Premier League, with 4 years of experience in creating sports content. Finding exciting and intriguing content about all things NBA is both his job and his passion. Divij loves the Dallas Mavericks and can be regularly observed getting emotional during games. Outside of basketball, he enjoys reading fantasy and sci-fi novels, consuming copious amounts of movies and TV, and spending time with his dog, Olivia. Expertise: NBA, Historical Sports ResearchFavorite Team: Dallas MavericksFeatured On HoopsHype, Sports Illustrated, Secret Base, MSNPrevious Work: Tribuna
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