In a revealing sitdown with Zach Lowe, Dwyane Wade pulled the curtains back a bit on the Miami Heat’s 2011 run, the year that should’ve been the Big 3’s first title campaign. Things went sideways, LeBron James faced the brunt of the criticism for it, and D-Wade’s personal resume was missing a well-deserved notch. But Wade was used to not finding success in the first try with a superstar teammate. He didn’t hold a grudge. That was Skip Bayless’ job.

His recent commentary gave Skip Bayless another opportunity to launch a scathing critique of LeBron James. However, Shaquille O’Neal, who’s formed a star duo in every team he’s been on, pretty much told the veteran sportscaster to hold his horses.

After The Flash’s interview, Skip Bayless fired a tweet writing, “DWade says LeBron cost him Finals MVP after Heat went up 2-1 in 2011 and LBJ disappeared in 4,5 & 6. Says he tried to snap LBJ out of it, couldn’t. NO CLUTCH GENE. CHOKED. FROZE. LBJ DISQUALIFIED HIMSELF FROM GOAT DEBATE. MJ NEVER EPIC FAILED.”

He posted this on February 27 and it has since done the rounds of the Internet till it came on Shaq’s Instagram feed. That prompted a simple but clear message in a comment. “We carried each other and that’s it let it go man.”

Note that O’Neal kind of has a love-hate banter with Bayless just as he does with Stephen A. Smith. He’s not afraid to call them out on their LeBron hate and can still joke with them after that. So it might sound offbeat for Shaq to comment this on a repost instead of directly at Bayless, but he’s not avoiding a direct confrontation. Chances are, Bayless got the message anyway.

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Bayless went as far as to state that James “disqualified himself from the GOAT debate” due to a lack of a “clutch gene.” O’Neal, who has played with both D-Wade and James, maintains that his teammates, especially Penny Hardaway, Kobe Bryant, Robert Horry, and Gary Payton carried him (it contrasts him nagging KAT to be more individualistic). So he doesn’t believe Bayless’ argument.

Shaq’s intervention serves as a clear message to Bayless. It’s time to move past the 15-year-old narrative.

Dwyane Wade correct the narrative with Shaquille O’Neal’s support

Despite all his ‘you have to be THE GUY’ talk, Shaquille O’Neal’s career and his post-NBA reflections have contrasted him. He’s pinned his success on Penny Hardaway, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade.

He also knows that the partnerships to work out instantly. He and Penny got swept too many times. It took four years before Shaq & Kobe won titles. And his partnership with D-Wade didn’t succeed until their second season.

D-Wade carried his lessons from the ’06 campaign with Shaq when he teamed up with LeBron James and Chris Bosh. On paper, the Big 3 should’ve won immediately. But the 2011 Finals became a blemish on Bron’s and D-Wade’s careers.

The Heat entered the series as heavy favorites. Historically, James did struggle significantly in the closing games; he averaged only 17.8 points per game for the series and famously scored just eight points in a pivotal Game 4 loss. Wade was the defacto leader averaging 26.5 PPG. Wade told Zach Lowe that ‘his job’ was to push Bron harder.

But James’ infamous ‘meltdown’ even baffled Wade. LeBron was the team’s third leading scorer while D-Wade was the undeniable cornerstone. “I felt I had the best series and a chance to win Finals MVP if we won the championship,” Wade said but felt that he failed as a leader when he was unable to bring James out of his slump.

Not sure how Bayless interpreted it. However, D-Wade was taking personal responsibility for his own leadership failure. He never says it was Bron’s fault that they didn’t win and cost him a Finals MVP.

Shaq reinforces Wade’s claims. By shutting down the commentary, Shaq reminds the media that while James may have “frozen” in 2011, the ship eventually righted itself to the tune of two championships,