Editing Shaquille O'Neal (section)

====MVP runner-up (2004–2005)====
[[File:Shaquille O'Neal1.jpg|thumb|O'Neal with the [[Miami Heat]] in February 2007]]
On July 14, 2004, O'Neal was traded to the [[Miami Heat]] for [[Caron Butler]], [[Lamar Odom]], [[Brian Grant]], and a future first-round [[draft (sports)|draft]] choice (the Lakers used the draft choice to select [[Jordan Farmar]] in the [[2006 NBA draft|2006 draft]]). O'Neal reverted from (his Lakers jersey) number 34 to number 32, which he had worn while playing for the Magic.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-02-09 |title=Heat to retire Shaq's No. 32 jersey next season |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/14747852/miami-heat-retiring-shaquille-oneal-no-32-jersey-next-season |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}}</ref> Upon signing with the Heat, O'Neal promised the fans that he would bring a championship to Miami. He claimed one of the main reasons for wanting to be traded to Miami was because of their up-and-coming star [[Dwyane Wade]], to whom he gave the nickname "Flash". With O'Neal on board, the new-look Heat surpassed expectations, claiming the best record in the Eastern Conference in 2004–05 with 59 wins. He played in 73 games, his most since 2001 season, averaged 22.9 points a game along with 10.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. O'Neal made his 12th consecutive All-Star Team, made the All-NBA 1st Team, and won the Eastern Conference Player of the Month award for his performance in March. O'Neal also narrowly lost the [[2004–05 NBA season|2004–05]] [[NBA Most Valuable Player Award|MVP Award]] to [[Phoenix Suns]] guard [[Steve Nash]] in one of the closest votes in NBA history.<ref name="mvp_vote_2005">{{cite web | url = https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_2005.html | publisher = Basketball Reference | title = 2004–05 NBA Awards Voting | access-date = June 1, 2011 | archive-date = June 4, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110604225723/http://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_2005.html }}</ref>

Despite being hobbled by a deep thigh bruise, O'Neal led the Heat to the [[2005 NBA Playoffs#Conference finals|Eastern Conference finals]] and a game 7 against the defending champion [[Detroit Pistons]], losing by a narrow margin. Afterwards, O'Neal and others criticized Heat head coach [[Stan Van Gundy]] for not calling enough plays for O'Neal.<ref>{{cite news 
 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE4DA1230F934A15751C1A9639C8B63 
 |first=Liz 
 |last=Robbins 
 |title=BASKETBALL; Riley, Advocating for O'Neal, Objects to the 'Sumo' Defense 
 |quote=The criticism O'Neal and others had for Van Gundy after the Heat's loss to Detroit in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals last season was that he did not call enough plays for O'Neal. 
 |date=December 27, 2005 |newspaper=The New York Times 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110210004/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE4DA1230F934A15751C1A9639C8B63
 |archive-date=November 10, 2012 |access-date=November 17, 2010 |url-status=live
 }}</ref> 
In August 2005, O'Neal signed a 5-year-extension with the Heat for $100&nbsp;million. Supporters applauded O'Neal's willingness to take what amounted to a pay cut and the Heat's decision to secure O'Neal's services for the long term. They contended that O'Neal was worth more than $20&nbsp;million per year, particularly given that lesser players earned almost the same amount.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-08-02 |title=Shaq, Heat agree to five-year, $100M contract |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=2122716 |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=ESPN.com |language=en |archive-date=December 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228183153/https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=2122716 |url-status=live }}</ref>