Imagine asking Shaquille O’Neal to step into a supporting role after the majority of fans admitted him to be the leading force behind LA Lakers’ 3 championships. And he himself had every reason to believe so, considering his NBA Finals MVP title in all three championship seasons. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. And so did Shaq’s prime phase after three seasons of a championship had passed. To his credit, though, Bi Diesel did not deny the reality of the situation and seconded the suggestion of him accepting a secondary role on Miami Heat. But still, the bold choice to ask Big Diesel to give up the charge for a 24-year-old Dwyane Wade, who was yet to win his first ring? Requires a bold man, for sure…

The NBA legend in discussion is Gary Payton. The 9x All-Star, during his appearance on the Knuckleheads podcast, has stated he was on The OG during his time in the Heat in seasons 2006 and 2007, which happen to be his last seasons in the league. Payton claimed he was the one dealing with Pat Riley and even took charge of things from him after a terrible loss against Dallas in season ’06.

“I let everybody understand that we needed to have D-Wade to be the man… And everybody had to play a role. Shaq had to step down. It was over for Shaq. I thought he was. He can get the ball on the second tier and be our dominant,” Payton said on the podcast. Well, Payton was not completely wrong considering Shaquille O’Neal was no longer dropping the dominant numbers, close to 30 points per game, he once used to. So, transforming into a force that backed up Dwyane Wade was a good move.

The outcome? Miami Heat went on to win 15 of their next 16 games. And this included 10 consecutive wins. “Once we got to the end of the season and we got into that fourth slot in the East, I told everybody we were going to win it. I knew we were going to win it because we were rolling too much. Everybody was doing what they were supposed to… James Posey was playing it. White Chocolate was playing the right way. We were getting it done,” Payton said on the Knuckleheads Podcast.

Now, don’t be too quick to question Payton’s claim, judging his average of just 7.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in the championship season in discussion. Let’s not forget that at this point of his career, Gary was just looking to add a ring to his resume, and he was acting as a mentor of sorts to Udonis Haslem and Dwyane Wade.

So when the team was facing not so smooth a run in season 2006 and faced a terrible 112-76 defeat against Dallas Mavericks, Payton decided to take charge of the team in his own hands. O’Neal, previously having admitted to letting Dwyane Wade be the Batman of the team, further adds a level of authenticity to Payton’s words:

Shaquille O’Neal himself admitted playing as the second option during the ’06 Championship speech

Big Diesel built his legacy as the most dominant force the NBA had ever seen, but even he had to acknowledge when someone else was the true alpha. That’s exactly what happened in Miami when a young Dwyane Wade took the league by storm. A resurfaced clip shared last year by the Instagram fan page Wade Legacy reminded fans just how special The Flash was—using none other than Shaq’s own words.

The video showed O’Neal, trophy in hand, celebrating Miami’s 2006 championship after their Game 6 win over the Mavericks. Reporters didn’t hesitate to ask if he ever imagined playing second fiddle to a 24-year-old, and Shaq didn’t even flinch.

“I knew that, you know, he was a young gunner. So when I came here I decided to let him go, and I was going be, you know, second option. And I was good with that and, you know, he’s a great player, unselfish player. He’s the best in the world, D-Wade,” Shaq said.

Not often do legends step aside for someone else. But the power to think of the bold choice like Gary Payton did and making the hard choice like Shaquille O’Neal made: exactly what builds a championship team.