Pat Riley: Acquiring Shaquille O'Neal Was Bigger Than Getting Big 3

Miami Heat president Pat Riley recently told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that trading for Shaquille O’Neal was "bigger than any acquisition that we ever made, including the Big Three."

Bigger than drafting the best player in franchise history, Dwyane Wade, in 2003?

Bigger than the 2010 signings of LeBron James and Chris Bosh, who won two titles in four years?

Apparently so.

Riley views the team's first championship, delivered by Wade and O'Neal in 2006, in high esteem.

Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images

"The seminal moment to really make us really, really legitimate,” Riley told Winderman of O'Neal's arrival. "He turned our franchise around. He gave us real legitimacy."

Shaq will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame next week, which is the reason for Riley's praise.

But one has to wonder: If D-Wade had re-signed with the Heat this summer, or if LeBron never went back to the Cleveland Cavaliers, would these comments be different?

[h/t NBC Sports]