Shaquille O’Neal rips Dwyane Wade, says Heat have never been his team
By Josh Hill
The Miami Heat appear to be on their way to winning another big series in the postseason as they were unstoppable against the Pacers weak fourth quarter effort on Saturday night. But while the Heat are winning and doing so with relative ease, not everyone is feeling the love in South Beach.
When LeBron James arrived in Miami, he was blasted for having to go to a team that wasn’t his to win a title. Four years later and it’s Dwyane Wade — the guy everyone said was the leader of the Heat — who is taking the flak. Shaquille O’Neal, who won a title with Wade and the Heat back in 2006, blasted his former teammate saying that he’s never been the leader of the Heat when they win, he’s always been ‘the other guy’.
What Shaq said on TNT: "D-Wade doesn't mind being the other guy. He's won all of his championships being the other guy."
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) May 26, 2014
Those are pretty harsh words from a guy who many forget was on the Heat championship team back in 2006 thanks to all the talk about plays Dwyane Wade made. That’s not to say Shaq wasn’t a part of the team, but he was ‘the other guy’ on the 2006 title team and not Wade.
But that argument could possibly be made now, as LeBron James is without a doubt the identity of professional basketball in America and by default is the face of the Heat. It’s the Big 3, but LeBron has always been the focus of our attention and that might be what Shaq is point out too.
Either way, Wade wins and that’s what counts at the end of the day. He’s been with Miami his whole career, and the titles he’s helped bring to South Beach far outweigh a conversation about who the team belongs to.