The Miami Heat announced on Monday that they will retire the jersey of NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal. O'Neal, who helped the Heat win the 2006 NBA championship, will see his No.32 jersey go into the rafters on Dec. 22 when the Heat play ... the Los Angeles Lakers, who retired O'Neal's jersey back in 2013.
O'Neal came to Miami in a trade in 2004, instantly helping make the Heat a championship contender. He finished second in MVP vote shares in 2005, and in 2006 won his fourth and final championship alongside Dwyane Wade. Without O'Neal, Wade doesn't become an early champion, Pat Riley has no championships in Miami, and the sell job of getting LeBron James and Chris Bosh is much more difficult.
O'Neal averaged 19 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in four seasons for Miami before being traded to Phoenix for Shawn Marion.
It'll be interesting to see if Dwyane Wade leaves the Bulls to go down for this event. It's also notable that Pat Riley will speak at the ceremony. And hey, at least the Heat are retiring the jerseys of their own players and not guys like Michael Jordan and Dan Marino these days.
