Pat Riley is still a big disciplinarian. He wouldn’t care which superstar was standing opposite him if you challenged his beliefs. Take any player—LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal, and the most recent Jimmy Butler. Despite their contributions to the franchise, they all had to take the exit route. Many former players vented their issues, and now there is a new revelation about the same old behavior from Riley.

On the Straight Game Podcast, there were 3 former Miami players, and the conversation had some heat. Guest Shaq, and two of the co-hosts, Mike Bibby (2011 with Heat) and Eddie House (2000-03 and 2010-11). Naturally, the conversation about Riley and his management skills came to the foreground. That’s when House explained and detailed a call from the current Heat President to sign with the team. “You know what’s funny about that? That year I would, he called me that summer and wanted me to be on that team.”

Even Shaquille O’Neal replied that House should have come back to the Heat. But the Arizona State alum had different plans and an offer to play under coach Mike D’Antoni. In stating his desire to hoop elsewhere, Pat Riley issued a warning. “And I ended up going to Phoenix to play with D’Antoni, you know, because it was gonna be fun and stuff like that. But that’s uh it’s crazy. He told me he was like, ‘You’re going to regret this, Eddie.‘” It was the 2005-06 season, which proved to be a mixed bag for the former champion.

The Suns had a 54–28 record, second-best in the Western Conference and third-best in the league. They beat the Lakers in the first round and the Clippers in the second round of the WC playoffs, but lost to the Mavericks in the WCF. The team already had Steve Nash, who received the Most Valuable Player Award. House did not start any games for the Suns, but played an important role off the bench as he got an opportunity in 81 games for 17.5 minutes on average during the regular season.

But it was the Heat who became the champions. So, Riley’s word once again had weight. But this conversation only came after Shaquille O’Neal revealed how he was pushed out of the team. One argument in the practice session, Shaq rejected one of Riley’s ideas. The result? The Big Aristotle was no more part of the Heat culture.

Taking a stand for his teammate led to Shaquille O’Neal’s trade

Winning a championship away from Kobe Bryant was a goal for Shaq. Once it was achieved, Riley felt that the dedication wasn’t the same. The two would often clash over the Big Aristotle’s weight management and apparent injury issues. The then Heat coach even asked O’Neal to take a lesson from teammate Alonzo Mourning, who had peak conditioning. But Shaq never cared about it, since his performance on the hardwood was better than Mourning’s. Not listening to one teammate to protect another was the final nail in the coffin for Shaq’s stint in Miami.

“Jason Williams came half a second late and he [Riley] was like, ‘You need to get out.’ That’s when he got rid of Antoine and all my guys, and I had a regular team so we were losing like crazy,” said Shaquille O’Neal, setting the stage on the same podcast. “I said, ‘He’s not getting out,’ and then he said, ‘You get out.’ I said, ‘M—— put me out.’ So, we got into a little scuffle and the next day, I was traded.”

Riley’s ruthless demeanor when it comes to transactions has made him a legend in the front office, but the bad guy in many players’ eyes. That’s why in the Jimmy Butler saga, Shaq chose to side with the player. Although there is no hatred from the 4x NBA champion, a clash of ideologies and trade within 24 hours has left some wounds on O’Neal.