When Shaquille O'Neal was acquired by the Miami Heat after a successful stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, many believed he would be considered the team's definitive star, and that a young Dwyane Wade was going to have to take a backseat.
However, the Diesel quickly turned the script after immediately passing the franchise's leadership duties to a young Flash. Some players would've crumbled under the pressure, but for Wade, it was the jumpstart he needed to fully embrace being the franchise's future and kickstart his emergence to superstardom.
"Shaq put a different level of confidence in me. We talking about one of the most dominant players ever played a game of basketball," he said. "I just watched him go to the finals three years in a row before he came down here and right away he was like, 'It's your team. I got you. I'm going to back you up.'"
In his rookie year, Wade averaged 16.2 points to help Miami reach the second round in the postseason. It was a relatively great rookie campaign that showed glimpses of what he can do as a leader, but it was still by no means an indication that he could be the star who could lead Miami to the top of the sport.
At the same time, everybody knew how dominant Shaq was. Despite his turbulent exit from L.A., he still carried the reputation as perhaps the most dominant player in the league who led the Lakers to a three-peat.
Diesel was ultimately still looking for another ring when he came to the Heat, but he had already learned from his mistakes with his beef with former co-star Kobe Bryant and made sure to do things differently with Wade, whom he gave the nickname "Flash" as a way to let everyone know he is the franchise' main star.
"To watch him go out, give me a nickname, m a ke sure that he protected me, make sure that anywhere we went, I was always protected," Wade said . "Not only by him, but by my entire team, bro, that just made me want to do anything for those guys."
Suddenly, all eyes and expectations were on Wade, who had no problem embracing them, for the sole purpose of repaying the trust O'Neal and the franchise had placed in him by becoming a superstar to lead them to a ring.
"I never thought I'd play with Shaq, not in my second year. But right away, I knew what the pressure was, 'Oh, we got to win a championship," Wade shared.
"He ain't done. He ain't coming here on that last tour. No, he's still trying to get it. And so, who's going to be the person that got to help him get it? It's got to be me. And so, I had to go to another level," he added.
Dwyane would quell concerns about his leadership in his first year with Shaq, averaging 24.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists. The Heat would finish with a 59-23 record and reach the Eastern Conference finals, where they lost to the defending champions Detroit Pistons.
O'Neal would finish second in MVP voting that year, but in 2006, the true changing of the guard came as Wade took another major step forward, evolving into the player the franchise and the Diesel expected him to be.
With new veterans such as Gary Payton, Jason Williams and Antoine Walker, who all also believed in Wade, the Heat would grind their way to the postseason, beating the likes of the Chicago Bulls and New Jersey Nets before avenging their loss to the Pistons to make the Finals.
It was during the Finals against the Dallas Mavericks that Flash would really silence any concerns about his superstar status after delivering one of the greatest Finals performances in league history, averaging an absurd 34.7 points and 7.8 rebounds to lead the Heat to its first title in franchise history.
Ultimately, Wade would've still become one of the best players in the league without O'Neal. However, there is no denying that Diesel's arrival in Miami allowed him to push himself further and fast-track his rise to becoming the Flash everybody mythologizes today.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Nov 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
