New Pat Riley Interview on ESPN

[Big NBA Fan]

Well, yeah, that's what I meant. I agree with you that Shaq should have retired much earlier than he did. He became a complete non-factor after 2006. Retiring after the 2006 season - when his decline started - would have been the perfect way for him to go out instead of becoming a ring-chaser and a journeyman.

Caron and Lamar were also good locker-room guys in Miami and Micky Arison said trading them was extremely difficult because of how much the organization liked them.

Shaq has shown ZERO gratitude towards the Heat despite all they did for him.

- He wanted a massive extension and they gave it to him...only for him to fail miserably to live up to it.

- He wanted Stan gone and he got what he wanted.

- He wanted Antoine Walker gone and he got that as well.

- He, unlike Posey and Walker, avoided being suspended during the 2006-2007 season despite showing up out-of-shape.

- He wanted to leave and they sent him to a contender.

- He quit on the team by refusing to play and refusing to cooperate with the medical staff.

And, yet, according to him, nothing is his fault and everything was Riley's fault.

Wade is the reason the Heat won the 2006 title. Shaq sucked in the Finals that year.

Trading for him was a mistake given how disruptive he became.

[DayofMourning]

Well, yeah, that's what I meant. I agree with you that Shaq should have retired much earlier than he did. He became a complete non-factor after 2006. Retiring after the 2006 season - when his decline started - would have been the perfect way for him to go out instead of becoming a ring-chaser and a journeyman.

Caron and Lamar were also good locker-room guys in Miami and Micky Arison said trading them was extremely difficult because of how much the organization liked them.

Shaq has shown ZERO gratitude towards the Heat despite all they did for him.

- He wanted a massive extension and they gave it to him...only for him to fail miserably to live up to it.

- He wanted Stan gone and he got what he wanted.

- He wanted Antoine Walker gone and he got that as well.

- He, unlike Posey and Walker, avoided being suspended during the 2006-2007 season despite showing up out-of-shape.

- He wanted to leave and they sent him to a contender.

- He quit on the team by refusing to play and refusing to cooperate with the medical staff.

And, yet, according to him, nothing is his fault and everything was Riley's fault.

Wade is the reason the Heat won the 2006 title. Shaq sucked in the Finals that year.

Trading for him was a mistake given how disruptive he became.

I read portions of his book, and he really gives it to Riley. Its such a great depiction of him as a person. He **** everything up himself, and then goes out of his way to point fingers. He has incurable issues.

If he wasn't such an idiot, he would have gone down as the best big man ever. As it stands, I'd take a handful of big men over him without a thought. He'll regret it later, for a minute, then blame somebody else for it happening.

[PaulieWal]

I read portions of his book, and he really gives it to Riley.

Cliffnotes, please and thank you.

[DayofMourning]

I read portions of his book, and he really gives it to Riley.

Cliffnotes, please and thank you.

Here's a good article from ESPN that is essentially an excerpt from the book.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/72008 ... t-my-story

[DayofMourning]

What's also ridiculous about the Miami exodus, is that he ends up being an all star in Phoenix for a season, and people are praising their medical staff. They have the best staff ever, and saved Shaq, fixed him right up. bull. Shaq wanted to prove Miami wrong. He wanted to stick his ass in the air and show that Miami was at fault. If he cared that much about his teammates, and his game, all the time, then he'd have been the best player of the past 30 years.