Shaq Reflects on 2006 Title: “We Were a Bunch of Misfits” - and That’s What Made It Special
Tuesday night in Miami wasn’t about the present-day Heat, who dropped a 125-117 game to the Atlanta Hawks. It was about remembering a team that defied the odds, embraced the chaos, and made history. The franchise honored the 2006 NBA champions on the 20th anniversary of their title run - a squad that, according to Shaquille O’Neal, wasn’t built to win on paper but had something far more powerful: belief, grit, and a little dysfunction.
“Because we were not supposed to win,” O’Neal said when asked why that lone Heat championship stands out as his favorite. “It was one that I was pressured to win.
I needed to get number four before the other guy [Kobe Bryant] got his fourth. For me, I had a whole bunch of emotions going through my head.”
It was a candid moment from one of the game's most dominant big men - and a reminder that even Hall of Famers feel the weight of legacy. At that point in his career, O’Neal was 32, no longer the unstoppable force he was during the Lakers' three-peat, but still a commanding presence in the paint and in the locker room. His averages in the 2006 Finals - 13.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists - didn’t mirror his peak numbers, but his influence went beyond the box score.
That Heat team had a unique makeup. Dwyane Wade was in just his third season, still ascending but already electric.
Alonzo Mourning had returned from a stint with the Nets, bringing veteran toughness and defensive grit. And then there was the group O’Neal affectionately called “misfits”: Jason Williams, Gary Payton, Antoine Walker, Derek Anderson, and Shandon Anderson - all veterans, all with something to prove.
“We were a bunch of misfits that used to argue, fight, and do things untraditionally,” O’Neal said. “We never not gotten along and that’s what made us special.
I’ve been on teams where you call a guy out in the paper and you don’t talk to him for a month. We would have fist fights in the locker room.
We probably had about 40 fights.”
It’s not the kind of chemistry you’d find in a coaching manual, but it worked. That team had an edge, a chip on its collective shoulder.
And when it mattered most, they delivered - especially Wade, who put on one of the greatest Finals performances in league history. He averaged 34.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.7 steals, and a block per game against the Dallas Mavericks, dragging the Heat out of a 0-2 series hole and straight into the record books.
That run didn’t just give Miami its first NBA title - it laid the foundation for everything that followed. The 2012 and 2013 championships, led by the Big Three of LeBron James, Wade, and Chris Bosh, were flashier.
But 2006 set the tone. It taught the franchise how to win.
It gave the Heat culture its roots.
And for O’Neal, it was personal. It wasn’t about dominance - it was about proving he could still lead a team to the mountaintop.
It was about beating the clock, and maybe beating Kobe to number four. But most of all, it was about a group of players who weren’t supposed to win - and did.
That’s why, two decades later, it still means the most.