Great players usually gel well with great coaches. Phil Jackson with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Pat Riley with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. However, things don’t always work out that way. Shaquille O’Neal is widely regarded as the greatest center of his time. While he was arguably the best player in the league during his prime, that prime didn’t last too long. Despite playing a major role in Miami Heat‘s first championship in 2006, Shaq’s game was on a downward spiral. Things only got worse after that championship as the Heat struggled to build on the victory. An altercation with the Heat’s legendary head coach, Pat Riley turned out to be the final nail in the coffin for the Big Aristotle.

In his book ‘Uncut’, which was released in 2011, Shaq recalled how a physical brawl with Riley led to his departure from Miami. Due to his growing injury concerns, things turned sour between the big man and Riley. “Pat told everybody I didn’t get better because I refused to do the rehab they set up for me. I stopped doing their rehab because it simply didn’t work. Miami trainer Ron Culp had me doing electrical stimulation, and it didn’t help,” the Lakers legend revealed in the book.

Moreover, he also revealed that there was a lot of tension within the team due to poor results and all this escalated into one big brawl. After Riley slammed Shaq’s good friend Jason Williams for being 10 minutes late for practice, he took matters into his own hands. Riley asked both of them to leave the practice to which Shaq replied, “Why don’t you make me?”

Shaquille O’Neal was traded away by the Miami Heat soon after the altercation

Despite Udonis Haslem and Alonzo Mourning trying to defuse the tension, neither Shaq nor Riley backed down. O’Neal continued in his book, “Now it’s me and Riley face-to-face, jaw to jaw. I’m poking him in the chest and he keeps slapping my finger away and it’s getting nasty. Noisy, too. He’s yelling ‘Fu*k you!’ and I’m yelling back, ‘No, fu*k you!’”

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This led to Riley canceling practice and going back to his office. “I think they were pretty shocked because it was the first time they ever saw anyone stand up to Pat like that,” Shaq mentioned.

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Soon after the altercation, O’Neal was traded to the Phoenix Suns. After his stint with the Suns, the 3-time NBA Finals MVP spent a year each in Cleveland and Boston before hanging up his boots for good.

Big things were expected from Shaquille O’Neal in Miami

Riley had already established himself as one of the greatest coaches of all time before O’Neal came to Miami. He was the architect behind the ‘Showtime’ Lakers in the 1980s and had assumed the dual role of Team President and head coach of the Miami Heat in 1995. On the other hand, the 4-time champion was traded to Miami after years of beef with Kobe Bryant and his declining performances.

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Riley and Shaq clicked straight away and this resulted in the franchise’s first championship. Led by a young Dwyane Wade, they were expected to be major contenders for years to come.

However, things didn’t turn out that way because of the big man’s deteriorating physical condition and Wade’s persistent injury problems. Despite their differences, the Heat decided to retire Shaq’s jersey in 2016. Both Shaquille O’Neal and Riley shared some great words for each other and Shaq even addressed their reported problems.