Shaq Describes Heated Confrontation with Pat Riley in His New Book

The former Heat star talks about a nasty argument he had with Pat Riley in his upcoming autobiography

Almost three years have gone by since Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat parted ways.

His last days with the team were anything but smooth, and the tension between O'Neal and then Heat coach Pat Riley was escalating, reports The South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Now O'Neal has detalied an ugly encounter with his former coach in his upcoming autobiography, "Shaq Uncut: My Story," reports NBCSports.com.

Deadspin.com published an excerpt from the former Heat star's new book on Monday describing the dispute between the two:

"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 about to start practice and Jason Williams comes in about ten seconds late. Pat being Pat, he starts swearing at him and screaming, 'Get the hell out of here!" ...

"I tell Pat we're a team and we need to stick together, no throw guys out of the gym. Pat is screaming at me and says if I don't like it, then I should get the hell out of practice, too."

"That's when I said, 'Why don't you make me?"

"I start taking a couple of steps towards Pat. Udonis Haslem steps in and I shove him out of the way. Then Zo tries to grab me. I threw him aside like he was a rag doll. Now it's me and Riley face-to-face, jaw to jaw. I'm poking him in the chest and he keeps slapping my finger away and it's getting nasty. Noisy, too. He's yelling '(expletive!)' and I'm yelling back, 'No, (expletive!)"

"Zo is trying to calm us both down and he has this kind of singsong panic in his voice. He keeps saying, 'Big fella, no big fella, big fella!' I finally turn around and tell him, 'Don't worry, I'm not gong to hit the man. Do you think I'm crazy?"

The Heat, who won the NBA title in 2006, were closing in on a 15-67 finish at the time, the worst in the league, reports the Sentinel.

"We get mad when we lose," Riley, said at the time, according to the Sentinel. "And he does, I do, we all do. We don't take it well, so some things happen occasionally."

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