When Shaquille O'Neal's attempt to make Dwyane Wade's daughter Kaavia Wade laugh was unsuccessful: “Kaavia, my name is Uncle Shaqqy"
Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade's camraderie goes far beyond TNT Tuesday. The two have been associated with each other since O'Neal joined the Miami Heat in 2004.
The O'Neal-Wade duo brought immediate success to the franchise, with an Eastern Conference Finals run in their first season together, and an NBA title in the second.
O'Neal joined the TNT crew in 2011. After retiring from basketball in 2019, Dwyane Wade joined the TNT on Tuesdays crew. The crew saw Adam Lefkoe, WNBA champion Candace Parker, and Wade take the place of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.
In a clip from the March 2020 edition of TNT on Tuesday, Shaquille O'Neal appeared to try and get the attention of Wade's daughter, Kaavia. The episode was broadcast remotely from the panelists' respective homes because of the pandemic.
“Kaavia, my name is Uncle Shaqqy,” said the Hall of Famer.
Both Parker and Lefkoe joined in trying to amuse Kaavia, watch the full clip here:
A look at Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade's time on the court
Following Shaquille O'Neal's departure from the LA Lakers, O'Neal arrived in South Beach after being traded for Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and a future first-round draft pick in the 2004 offseason.
O'Neal's arrival in Miami was primarily because of Dwyane Wade. During the 2004-05, O'Neal continued his dominant run, finishing second in MVP voting. Steve Nash took home the MVP in 2005 with 65 first-place votes.
The Shaq-Wade Heat's first playoff run ended in a loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals.
In 2006, however, the Miami Heat managed to go all the way. The 2006 NBA Finals was mired in controversy, especially since the Mavericks went up 2-0 in the series, winning by 10 points in Game 1 and 14 points in Game 2, and then losing four games in a row.
In 2017, disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy commented on the 2006 NBA Finals. He said that manipulation might have taken place in order to extend the series:
"With that being said, the way it was back then, was that the NBA would come in in order to extend a series, to go over plays that they felt should have went in Miami’s favor that didn’t and that went in Dallas’s favor that shouldn’t have and they started to program and training the referees to look for certain things.” (via) Bleacher Report
The 2006 NBA Finals is one of the most infamous series in NBA history, joining the ranks of the 2002 NBA Finals, the 2000 NBA Western Conference Finals, and many others.