Shaquille O'Neal will be remembered as a member of the Magic and Lakers before anything else. In Orlando, he and Penny Hardaway propelled a young franchise to the NBA Finals. In Los Angeles, he and Kobe Bryant paired up for a three-peat.
But the Heat claimed a piece of Shaq's legacy Thursday night. At American Airlines Arena, Shaq's home when he won his fourth and final championship with Miami, the Heat raised O'Neal's number to the rafters.
Shaq's ceremony brought some high-profile friends to the arena, but the person who mattered most was Heat team president Pat Riley. Riley, who won titles with the Lakers as both a player and a coach, brought Shaq to Miami in 2004. He later inserted himself back on the bench to coach the club to a title.
The way Shaq remembers it, Riley had certain obscure coaching tactics he used to inspire the team. One of those involved Riley unofficially establishing the world record for holding one's breath.
.@SHAQ joined the pregame show ahead of debut broadcast...
Says he already misses being at the desk pic.twitter.com/dB8jL8YeFE— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 23, 2016
Shaq said on TNT:
"Well, I think Pat Riley almost drunk drowned himself. He came in one day and was trying to teach us about mind control. He was like, 'You guys don't have the right mindset,' then he pulled out a piece of paper and he said, 'The world record holder of breath underwater is, let's just say, five minutes.' That man put his head in an ice cold bucket for about eight minutes.
"Eight minutes straight. He did it. He did it. I saw it."
This is the not the first time Shaq has told this story. Speaking on a panel with Phil Jackson earlier this year, he also recalled a similar version. But now the story is on video on national TV and Shaq is standing by it.
-- Follow Jeff Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband. Like Jeff Eisenband on Facebook.
