
Shaquille O’Neal has officially been traded from the Miami Heat to the Phoenix Suns:
The Phoenix Suns acquired Shaquille O’Neal in a stunning, blockbuster deal that sent four-time All-Star Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat. The improbable pairing of the speedy Suns and the slow but once-mighty O’Neal became official when he cleared a physical exam Wednesday.
After being in the league for 14 seasons, Shaq needs to ride this thing until the wheels fall off. Now he has something to take his mind off of Shaunie and her stacks.
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PHOENIX - Shaquille O’Neal had strong words for those who doubt he can fit in with the Phoenix Suns.“I’m very upset,” he said Thursday at a news conference to introduce him as a member of his new team. “You just don’t really want to get me upset. When I’m upset, I’m known to do certain things — like win championships.”
O’Neal, once the game’s dominant big man but now slowed by a hip injury, said he is motivated by the negative talk.
“This team has always been there in the Western Conference,” he said. “They just couldn’t quite get over the hump. I think with my experience and my on the court-off the court leadership, I can help them get over the hump.”Asked what he felt when he heard he could be going to Phoenix, O’Neal said, “I wanted it to happen because I was going to be coming to a fabulous team with a lot of unselfish players, a lot of great players.”
He said people are “going to be very surprised” about his role in a Suns running game orchestrated by Steve Nash.
“The last couple of years I was in a system that we really didn’t run, so you automatically think I can’t run,” he said. “But I love to run, especially if I’m playing with a great guy like Steve Nash. I look forward to making people eat their words, I really do.”
O’Neal, who turns 36 next month, has been out for two weeks with a hip injury but cleared his physical Wednesday and hopes to play before the All-Star break.
O’Neal was his charming self throughout the news conference. Asked if he knew he looked good in purple, he smiled and said, “I did. Thank you very much.”
On Wednesday night, he was also smiling. He stood from his seat in a suite high above the court at US Airways Center. He pointed to his ring finger and gave a thumbs up.
The crowd went crazy. The message he was sending on the big screen at the Phoenix-New Orleans game was clear: He intends to bring to Phoenix the championship that has eluded the Suns through their 40-year history.
The trade that brought O’Neal to Phoenix on Wednesday is one of the most unexpected in NBA history, a blockbuster that sent Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami and came
together in just a few days under first-year Phoenix general manager Steve Kerr.
The criticism has been widespread from fans to talk radio hosts to newspaper columnists. All claimed that Phoenix had acquired a once-great big man far past his prime, a 7-foot-1, 325-pound Goliath who would stifle the Suns’ trademark up-tempo game.
And the Suns were taking on a contract that pays O’Neal $20 million each of the next two seasons.
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