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Despite Shaquille O’Neal’s Skepectisim, Miami Heat Star Takes Pride in Full Circle Moment: “It’s Been No Secret”

Published 01/25/2024, 5:52 AM EST

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The Miami Heat are going all in. The team recently traded veteran Kyle Lowry and a 1st round pick to the Hornets for Terry Rozier. With two weeks left on the trade deadline, many consider this move to have raised the ceiling of the Miami Heat. However, their 2006 champion Shaquille O’Neal is still not sold on Rozier’s ability to mesh with the team.

Nonetheless, being a fan of Dwyane Wade and the Heat organization from a young age, the 29-year-old guard is looking forward to shutting down the noise. Shaquille O’Neal thinks that Rozier might not be the best fit in the Heat culture. However, for the guard, it’s a dream come true to be playing for such a historic franchise. “It’s been no secret how much love I have for the Miami Heat growing up and D. Wade. So it is definitely a full-circle moment. I am just happy to be back on the stage again and in the playoff race and stuff like that. It’s huge,” said Terry Rozier.

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With this trade, the Miami Heat now have 4 players that average over 20 PPG on their roster. But despite all the scoring and help this brings in for the Heat and Jimmy Butler, Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t think that Rozier has the mentality to be a Miami Heat player.

The Los Angeles Lakers legend said, “He looks to me to be like a player that does what he wants to do when he wants to do it, and I don’t think Heat culture allows that.” But Rozier has already made it clear that he is not looking to step on anyone’s toes.

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Still, Shaquille O’Neal’s concerns stemmed from the fact that he faced similar troubles when he first came to the Miami Heat.

Shaquille O’Neal had troubles with the Miami Heat

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Despite Shaq’s concerns about Rozier, Shaquille O’Neal himself was hard to manage when he first arrived in Miami.

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Shaq had already won three championships by then, while the Miami Heat as an organization had none. So when the team wanted him to buy into the system and the culture, Shaquille O’Neal raised questions. Big Diesel wanted to be himself and play his way.

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However, Shaq eventually bought in and followed the system, and this led to the team winning its first-ever championship and Shaq getting his fourth. What do you think of the Miami Heat trading for Terry Rozier? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Written by:

Rijin Varghese

687Articles

One take at a time

I did not follow the traditional route to become a journalist, but my love for basketball and writing has brought me here. Seeing LeBron James? Cleveland Cavaliers make the iconic comeback from a 1-3 deficit in 2016 changed everything for a young engineering aspirant within me. Rather than simply looking at the game, I love to analyze how each player contributes to a team using BPM (Box Plus Minus) and other advanced metrics.
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Edited by:

Aakash Nair