Shaq Suns it up as Pat Riley pulls off the NBA's biggest con

Miami Heat's general manager has just traded fading Shaq and his $20m-a-year contract to Phoenix. No wonder they call him the Flim-Flam man.

by John Fatland on 08 February 2008

Email this Article (4) Comments

48%

52%

Pat Riley: Master stroke for the Heat (Gettyyimages.com)

Related Bet:

Free £25 bet when you register at

Let me just state for the record: Pat Riley is a genius. Pat Riley is a salesman. And Pat Riley is also The Flim-Flam man. If you combine all three into one, you have the making of one of the finest GMs the NBA has ever seen.

Riley the Genius: He has just traded Shaquille O’Neal, the "Big Waste of a $20m Contract" to the Phoenix Suns for All-Star Shawn Marion, aka "The Matrix", as well as Marcus Banks.

Miami fans were in agreement: We traded our soul to the Devil for one Title. But since the NBA title, Shaq was in decline. Shaq had lost more then a step since he first came to the Heat. He had lost everything - his quickness, his shooting touch, his rebounding, his blocking ability, I mean everything. The only thing he had gained was weight and a boatload of injuries.

'Although they [The Suns] had the best record in the West, they were worried the Lakers might deny them the NBA title they covet so much'

With three years left on his contract, at $20m per year, Miami and Riley were doomed. Nobody would take Shaq. You couldn’t give him away. You couldn’t pay any team to take him off Miami's hands. Or so we thought...

Riley the Salesman and Flim-Flam Man: As the Flim-Flam Man (a gifted con artist), Riley could sell ice to the Eskimos, or in this case, an aging, hurt center, barely able to put on a uniform, $20 million a year player, to an unsuspecting NBA team.

Now most NBA general managers, confronted with such a daunting problem, play the Old Soldier routine. Old GMs never die; they just fade away, disappear, and leave all the problems they created for the next poor sucker. I’m sure Riley thought of that, but the old Willie Lohman of the NBA felt he might have one more sale or trade up his sleeve.

Comments (4)

by Mike K on February 11, 2008

I see this article has been reposted from another open source site, how lazy. Its full of cliche and sounds a bit like a laker fan with a chip on his shoulder. Dont give up your day job.

by john on February 11, 2008

Lazy, Posted this article at another site? Right. I actually posted and shared at three sites the same article at the same time. I'm trying to get exposure and learn from different editors. Unfortunately, Sportingo published the article 24 hours after I submitted it, so it appears to come later. I am a proud Lakers Fan. Isn't that what this site is all about, Fans writing about their teams? Obviously you are a little emotional about the historically bad trade the Suns made. Most GM's and NBA execs have chimed in about what they are saying is the worst trade in NBA history. My piece was to ask and make light of, how someone would take Shaq's incredibly bad contract, for an aging, injured player. UPDATE: ESPN and Miami Herald have now done pieces since mine on how Riley 'sold' the Suns on the deal using Dallas as bait. uhmm.... Thanks for your reply, even tho you are grossly misinformed. I relish the debate with a Suns Fan anytime.

by frangotrip on February 11, 2008

I do not believe that Shaq is a useless player. Maybe is not the same than 5 years ago but for the Suns that are just empty in the center position (Stoudamire is not enough big and is the only one). They lost Marion (a great lost) that anyway was not doing a great season compared with past year. I want to criticize sportingo.com. In addition to the sad changes they do in the articles, they lost me an article with the changes they made in the editorial site. As they do not have many authors writing about basketball they should care more about it.

by Antonio Sempere on February 15, 2008

Your post is even more sad looking at the record registered by Miami since the trade: 0-3. Nothing has changed in Miami after the trade...the main thing is the salary space won in order to hire good free agents this summer. However, the Suns still without O´neal does not seem to notice the lack of Marion and, of course, Banks.