“It Just Drove Him Crazy”: Dwyane Wade, Who Picked Shaquille O’Neal Over Lebron James, Gets a Kobe Bryant Shout Out From the 7 Ft Legend

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has played with a number of iconic players during his time in the league. While a majority of fans agree that his time alongside Kobe Bryant is the best, there is a strong argument that favors the duo of Dwyane Wade and Shaq. ‘The Big Aristotle’ joined the Miami Heat after a fallout with Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. He mentored a young Wade and helped the Heat win their first-ever title. In a recent interview, Shaq was asked to comment on his time alongside Wade.

According to the four-time NBA champion, he employed some tactics that brought out the A-Game from Wade. Shaq used to get Kobe mad which urged the latter to work harder in order to prove the Lakers legend wrong. This famous tactic brought out the best of Dwade when he played with Shaq.

Shaquille O’Neal used an uncanny way of bringing the best out of players

Mind games can work wonders both on and off the court and NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal knows all about it. He was known to be a great trash talker which he used to get into the heads of his opposition.

Interestingly enough, this worked wonders even on his own teammates. During an interview, he revealed how he got Kobe Bryant mad regularly in order to push him to work harder.

This worked with a young Dwyane Wade as well who was out to prove his critics wrong. Shaq said, “So, we’re going to tell him, “You’re not the man, you little punk.” And it just drove him crazy, to where he had to go work out six, seven hours a day because he wanted to be well respected.”

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Shaq was an important part of the Miami Heat team that won a championship in 2006. The experience of Shaq helped a young Dwyane Wade win his first title at such a young age. Wade has acknowledged Big Diesel’s influence in his career in the past. Additionally, he also once chose the 4-time NBA Champion over LeBron James.

Wade once chose Shaq over LeBron James as a teammate

The duo of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade won two NBA titles and established themselves as one of the greatest teams of their generation. However, Wade once chose Shaq over LeBron.

He said, “Shaq was a great teammate because I was young and nobody knew who I was.” He further said, “I was already somebody once LeBron came out.” 

Shaquille O’Neal was more of a mentor than a teammate for Wade. On the other hand, LeBron was of the same age when he joined Wade and the Heat and they built a chemistry like no other on the court.

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What is your favorite memory of the LeBron James and Dwyane Wade duo? Let us know in the comments!