Shaquille O'Neal On What Miami Heat Need To Be A Contender: ‘They Need A Big-Time Closer'
Shaquille O'Neal is very familiar with 'Heat Culture' and what it takes to win a ring with the Miami Heat.
'The Big Aristotle' starred for the Heat during the mid-2000's, bringing his talents to South Beach after helping mold the Los Angeles Lakers into a contender in the early millennium. After winning three consecutive championships and Finals MVPs as a member of the Lakers, Shaq – along with Dwyane Wade – helped lead the Heat to their first franchise title in 2006.
The Heat are in a weird spot at the current moment. They're just months removed from trading franchise star Jimmy Butler and barely squeaked into the playoffs as an eighth seed. They were clearly outmatched in their first-round series against the No. 1-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, losing their four games by an average margin of 30.5 points per game.
However, the East is drastically weakened as a result of injuries to Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum and Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton. Furthermore, the Heat just pulled off a trade for Norman Powell, an established scorer coming off of a career year with the Los Angeles Clippers where he averaged 21.8 points per game.
'The Heat have always been an organization where they do great things and take pride and being in shape and playing defense,' says O'Neal in a one-on-one interview. 'Norman Powell definitely give them a lift, but I still need for them to have that major impact. They think they need a big star.'
There's little doubt that Miami has a lot of quality pieces. They have rising All-Star guard Tyler Herro, who is coming off of his own banner year as the Heat's new lead guy, averaging 23.9 points per game. The Heat also feature Bam Adebayo, an established All-Star and defensive presence along with veteran defensive wing Andrew Wiggins, who previously won a championship with the Golden State Warriors.
As good as all of those collective pieces are, the problem is, none of them are true lead franchise guys to build your team around. The Heat need another 'closer,' as O'Neal says. They've been missing that since the traded Butler to the Warriors, where he immediately lifted that team to another level upon arrival. Butler also lead two Heat squads to the Finals.
'They got all the pieces,' says O'Neal. 'They just need a big, they need a closer, big-time closer. I don't know what it is, but they're always going to compete, always going to make a run for the players.'
The four-time NBA champion reiterates that it's all about winning championships in Miami and under team president Pat Riley.
'When you talk about Miami culture, the culture, which I helped create, it's all about championships,' says O'Neal. 'Do they have enough to win a championship? No, not at all. But if you get them a closer, then we'll start talking championships.'
Riley, one of the biggest basketball legends of all time, has won three championships with the Heat and won four championships prior as a head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and one title as a player.
'That's all he cares about,' says O'Neal. 'He don't care about winning, he cares about winning championships. If he doesn't win championships, heads will roll.'
When asked who are those possible closers that the Heat could target, O'Neal wouldn't get specific, simply saying that Riley has 'a lot of names' in mind.
'A lot of names,' says O'Neal. 'I don't want to get people in trouble, but he has a lot of names.'
O'Neal – who has a long-standing partnership with Icy Hot – just unveiled the Icy Hot Comebaq court in Rockwall, Texas. It's the sixth court refurbished by the Shaquille O'Neal Foundation and Icy Hot as part of their efforts to rebuild places for kids to play in underserved communities.
'This is comeback court No. 6, I try to entrench myself with communities I live in and just go to local neighborhoods and see what the kids need,' says O'Neal. 'Basketball is a very vital part of my life. I recognize this, what the city council showed me, this court hasn't been refurbished in a while, and they let me come do my thing and we fixed it up really nice.'
The 53-year-old Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame legend says there are plans to refurbish more courts moving forward.
'Of course,' says O'Neal when asked if they'll refurbish more courts across the country. 'Hopefully we will continue to do this for awhile.'
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