We all called Dwyane Wade “D-Wade”. Shaq called him “Flash”.
By the time the Los Angeles Lakers blew up the team and started over, Shaquille O’Neal found himself traded to the Miami Heat for pieces the Lakers used for two more titles at the end of the decade.
But the NBA hyped the face to face duel of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal to the hilt didn’t they?
But at this time, Shaq was in a better situation teamed up with a young player out of Marquette named Dwyane Wade. The first season the two got as far as the conference finals losing in seven games to the Detroit Pistons. One coaching change bringing in Pat Riley punched their ticket to the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.
Shaq, for the first time in his career, passed the baton to a superstar teammate. He says so to ESPN.
"“Hey, everyone knows Finals is my time, so guys were trying to get it to me, get it to me, get it to me, get it to me, but it wasn’t working. So, finally I went off on [Gary Payton], I went off on D-Wade, I went off on Antoine [Walker]. I was older; I was starting to feel a little bit older. It just wasn’t working. And D-Wade was open a lot, so I was like: “Hey, man, whatchu’ gonna do? You wanna be a star, you wanna be like Kobe and LeBron? This is your time.” but that was the first time we gave him permission: F— Shaq. Go to work."
Message received don’t you think?
Dwyane Wade led the Miami Heat back from a 2-0 to win four straight and the NBA Finals. It would be the last title of Shaq’s career and “Wade County” became a legitimate location on the NBA map.
Finally, there’s LeBron James.