Excerpt: The day Shaquille O’Neal went after Pat Riley

It has been nearly three years since Shaquille O’Neal forced his way out of South Florida. While O’Neal downplayed the rift after his departure to the Phoenix Suns in 2008, a practice-court incident between O’Neal and then-Miami Heat teammate Alonzo Mourning had been well chronicled at the time in the Sun Sentinel. Now, in advance of the release of “Shaq Uncut: My Story,” his autobiography written with ESPN personality Jackie MacMullan, Deadspin.com on Monday offered a telling, first-personal excerpt of that rift. The timing of O’Neal’s account, however, is a bit off, with the center dealt to the Suns on Feb. 8, 2008 for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. Nonetheless, from the book: Pat Riley (left) and Shaquille O'Neal during the best of times, the 2006 NBA Finals championship celebration in Dallas. (Getty). “My ticket out of Miami was punched in mid-February 2008. There was a lot of tension between Pat and the players. So we’re...