Shaquille O'Neal signed a US$100 million, five-year contract with the Miami Heat on Tuesday, a deal that gives the 12-time National Basketball Association All-Star center security he wanted while not draining all the team's resources.
The contract was signed on the first day of the NBA's player-movement window, the start of which was delayed while the new six-year collective bargaining agreement was being completed.
O'Neal's agent, Perry Rogers, said the deal ensures that the three-time Most Valuable Player award winner of the NBA Finals remains the player with the highest annual salary in the NBA, and it's believed that no player will make more than the 33-year-old O'Neal's US$20 million in each of the next two seasons.
"We wanted to make sure that Shaquille was being compensated well into his career,"Rogers told AP. "We also wanted to make sure he was paid his value. And it was important the Heat had flexibility they need in the short-term to win a championship.
"It's about winning."
O'Neal was vacationing Tuesday in Rome; Heat doctors will fly there Wednesday to administer a physical. In a statement released by the team, he said he was "very excited" about the deal.
"This contract allows me to address all of my family's long-term financial goals while allowing the Heat the ability to acquire those players that we need to win a championship," O'Neal said.
Heat president Pat Riley said signing O'Neal was the team's top priority this offseason.
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