Shaq 'Strong-Armed' His Way Out of Miami, Asking For 'Significant Buyout'

According to a story from the the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Shaquille O'Neal's agent Perry Rogers asked for a 'significant buyout' of his remaining 3-year $60 million contract with the Miami Heat, which ultimately led to them unloading Shaq's bloated contract and body to the Phoenix Suns for the Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks pu-pu platter.

Miami coach Pat Riley confirmed that the team turned down trade overtures from the Mavericks in December, and that Mark Cuban was leading a push to get Shaq cashed out of Miami. Heat owner Mickey Arison said the team felt they needed to do something when Shaq's agent/handlers approached them about a buyout, and trying to force his way out. "Shaq, through his agent, put himself in play," Arison said Sunday before the Heat's 104-94 loss to the Lakers. " That's when we decided we couldn't just deal with Cuban. We had to find another party as well."It wouldn't be the least bit surprising if some tampering was going on between Shaq's agent and other teams (Mavericks, Suns, etc.), which the league has historically done nothing about anyway, because it's generally very hard to prove outside of having a taped conversation as evidence.

Shaq was willing to accept all the hype and glory for helping to lead them to a championship, and was happy to accept a 5-year $100 million contract commitment from the Heat, yet he wasn't willing to get in shape for years and to bust his ass on a team struggling to make the playoffs. There's no confirmation yet on whether Shaq is changing his name from the 'Big Aristotle' to the 'Big Ass Wipe.'