Shaq on his beef with Pat Riley: 'I wasn`t with five hour
practices'
by HoopsVibe News
Sep 6th, 2010
Question: While with the Miami Heat, you appeared to have a
strained relationship with former Heat coach Pat Riley. What
happened?
Shaquille O’Neal (answer): I wasn’t with the five-hour
practices. Some people have different mentalities, but I was
just coming off three out of four (NBA Finals MVP awards).
With the Lakers, Phil (Jackson) treated us like men with 1 ½
-hour practices. I’m a businessman, and I don’t know how
other men view me personally, nor do I care. I know what I
do and what I have to do.
Link
HoopsVibe’s Very Quick Call: Once again, Shaquille O’Neal
has stuffed his massive foot into his massive mouth.
Currently, Pat Riley is the architect/lead executive for the
Miami Heat. With Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade
on the Heat roster, he may fire Coach Erik Spoelstra and
return to the sideline.
As Stan Van Gundy can attest, Riles has `un-retired` from
coaching once before.
Whatever Riley’s role with the Heat in 2011, O’Neal’s
comments have provided The Oil Slick with extra motivation
and incentive to defeat the Boston Celtics.
This isn’t wise. A rivalry is already brewing between the
Heat and Celtics. And O’Neal is giving the green-and-white’s
opponents extra clippings to put on their bulletin board.
So, why is Shaq re-hashing old wounds from his time with
Riley in Miami?
If O’Neal really wants to help the Celtics, if he really
wants to make an impact, he’ll button his big mouth and
focus on filling-in effectively while Kendrick Perkins
recovers from injury.
--Oly Sandor.
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