Shaquille O’Neal was honored on Thursday night when the Miami Heat retired his number.
Shaq spent three-plus seasons in Miami and helped bring the franchise its first NBA Championship in the 2005-06 season.
Prior to Thursday night’s ceremony, Shaq spoke with the NBA on TNT crew, reflecting on his fondest memories in a Heat uniform. He recalled a moment with his then-head coach Pat Riley, who was trying to teach his team mind control in an unorthodox way.
“Well, I think Pat Riley almost drunk drowned himself,” he told TNT. “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.”
It would be pretty difficult to question Riley’s methods, as he won five NBA titles as a head coach.
You can watch the rest of Shaq’s interview with TNT below:
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
