NBA
OTD 2004: Miami Landed Shaq, Steve Nash to Suns
July 14, 2004: The Miami Heat traded for Shaquille O'Neal and Steve Nash departed the Dallas Mavericks to return to Phoenix
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Shaquille O’Neil and Steve Nash dominated in different ways, Shaq with force and Nash with finesse. Both players won MVP awards in the early 2000s, and both found themselves moving to different teams on this day in 2004. After winning three championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, Shaq and management agreed that it was time to make a change after butting heads with Kobe Bryant.
Shaq was traded to his third NBA team, the Miami Heat for Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Cook, and a first-round pick (Jordan Farmar). Steve Nash, meanwhile, returned to the team that drafted him, the Phoenix Suns, after developing into an All-Star with the Dallas Mavericks. Nash was poised to take his game to the next level once he started running the show in the desert.
BLOCKBUSTER DEALS FOR 2 MVP’S OCCURRED ON THE SAME DAY IN 2004
The highly-publicized contention between Shaquille O’Neil and Laker teammate Kobe Bryant raised concerns as to how he would get along with Miami’s star Dwyane Wade. These concerns never played out as Shaq, coming out of his prime, had no problems taking a secondary role to a much younger star. Together, they reached the Finals in 2006 and won the Heat’s first championship in franchise history while both solidifying themselves as top five Miami Heat players of all-time.
Steve Nash’s return to Phoenix led to the creation of one of the franchise’s most exciting and innovative eras. Behind coach Mike D’Antoni, the Suns adopted a run-and-gun style that resembled the small-ball popularized by the Golden State Warriors dynasty of the 2010s, a team that Nash consulted for later on. Although they never won a championship or even reached the Finals, Nash’s Suns produced some of the best basketball of the 2000s and earned their star playmaker back-to-back MVP awards.
July 14, 2004: #Lakers ended the Shaq-Kobe era by trading HOF C Shaquille O’Neal to the #Heat in exchange for Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Cook, and a 2006 1st Rd pick (PG Jordan Farmar) after 3 championships & 4 NBA Finals over the previous 5 seasons
— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) July 14, 2021
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July 14, 2004: PG Steve Nash signed a 5y/$65M deal with the Phoenix #Suns to re-join his original team in Phoenix where he instantly went on to win consecutive MVP awards in 2004-05 & 2005-06
— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) July 14, 2021
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