Talk about all Dwyane has going on. Is it too much, or should he go for it while he can?
Shaquille O’Neal: "I tell him to take advantage of all the opportunities that he's getting now. He deserves it. All the stuff he's getting now, he deserves it. He came into his own last year. That was something that I saw. Just watching him throughout the year before I came here, you just tell him to go with the flow, take advantage of all the opportunities and have fun. He knows that he still has to come on the court and produce, and he has a lot of guys that's going to help him do it. Jason Williams is going to help him do that. I'm going to help him do that. He has a lot of backups, so he'll be fine in that category."

Did you see last year’s playoffs as Wade’s “coming out party”?
SO: “Yes. I did. I still think he can do even better. I really do. He’s a great kid, a humble guy who works hard. He’s been working out hard all summer. He’s going to be a great one.”

How do you feel about the off-season additions?
SO: “I think (Pat) Riley did a great job bringing in some nice veterans. This summer, I had the choice to max out and make money and not have a supporting cast or take less money so we can get more help. I’m a business man. I think I’m the only player in the history of the game that has had four or five great contracts in one career. I didn’t want to be greedy and take all the money and try to do it myself. Micky (Arison) and Pat have been really fair. I said I’ll take $20 million and you take the rest of the money and go out and get some guys. I’ve been blessed. I just want to get some help and add a couple of more years to my career and add more rings to my legacy.”

How do you compare this year’s roster to the one in your last year with Los Angeles?
SO: “The difference here is that we have more big name players. We’re going to allow those guys to be themselves. Even though they’re big name players, they are very, very unselfish. The team they were formerly on, they probably had to be a little more selfish. I’ve seen those guys play, and they are very, very unselfish. Jason Williams is too unselfish at times. Gary Payton is unselfish. I don’t see it as a problem, and it will be my job to manage the locker room.”

How will you manage the locker room?
SO: “You just let guys be themselves. Everyone has to be on the same page, but everyone has to do it their way. Everyone is not going to have the same thinking process, and everyone is not going to do everything right, but the outcome will have to be the same. The outcome will be the same. We want to win, we want to win big and we want to win the whole thing.

Do you anticipate that this year’s team will come together as quickly as last year’s team?
SO: “It seems like it will, but you just have to take it one day at a time. On paper, we have a pretty good team. Like Pat Riley said, it’s the best Miami HEAT team that he’s ever put together. And I agree with him. We have to go out and get it done. Expectations are very high.”

Are you worried about chemistry problems?
SO: “We have a long season to get it together. What only counts is what happens at the end. I’ve seen a lot of teams that don’t do well at the beginning and turn it around at the end to become a contender. We have to be there at the beginning, the middle and the end.”

What do you expect from Dwyane Wade this season?
SO: “Big things. I’m expecting big things out of Dwyane. I don’t like to put numbers on what I expect. Dwyane is going to be Dwyane. He’s going to play, and he’s going to play well. We’re going to support him and we’re going to back him up.”

What did you say to Gary Payton for him to join the HEAT?
SO: “I didn’t have to say anything. Gary knows what type of player I am and what we can do. We needed a back up point guard, and Gary was willing to come. We had an opportunity to play together before, but that was a different year. I think this year will be better for myself and Gary.”

After being a contender last year, were you surprised by the off-season changes?
SO: “I think Pat did a great job of getting better, stronger, more experience players. He’s always been great (at making personnel moves). I’ve always called him a “Mini Jerry West”. He did a great job. Now, we just have to go out and get it done. We were very close, but not close enough last year. I think this year, if we play in another close game like that, we can pull it out.”

What if the new additions result in fewer shots for you, will you be fine with that?
SO: “I’ll be fine with that. The ball is going to come to me, and I’m going to get doubled. I’m going to kick it out, and they’ll do what they do. The game always has to be played from the inside-out. I’m not a black hole by any means, I always look for my shooters. Every shooter that plays with me always gets a new contract. It’s never been about touches for me, it has always been about touching the ball. As long as I can touch the ball, I can kick it out.”

Last year you focused the off-season on cardio and slimming down, this season you’re more bulked up. Did you emphasis hitting the weights this summer more?
SO: “I hit all weights this summer. I’m going back to the old Shaq. I was normal last year – I was an earthling last summer. I had to go back to my alien roots.”

Is this the most talented team that you’ve been on?
SO: “I wouldn’t even call it a talented team. I’ll call it a team full of veterans with a know how and a lot of pieces that we were missing. It’s going to be a fun year.”

How do you feel about depth at the center spot?
SO: “It’s nice. We have a lot of big guys down there that can play – Zo (Alonzo Mourning), (Michael) Doleac, and we have a rookie Earl (Barron) who can shoot pretty good. It’s real good. I’ll get a lot of rest.”

When did you make the decision to get bigger?
SO: “During the (Eastern Conference) Finals. After the season I took about two or three weeks off and then I started working out.”

Do you think you’ll get more rest earlier in the game?
SO: “I won’t ask for it. If that’s what they decide to do, then I’m going to have to roll with it. I’ll just do my job.”

Do you feel stronger than last year?
SO: “Yes. I’ve been hitting the weights so hard this summer. Last year, I felt kind of weak. Last summer I just did cardio and I was kind of weak. This year it was all weights – me and Uncle Jerome two times a day.”

Does this team remind you of the Lakers team from two years ago?
SO: “No. It’s different because it’s a different team in a different situation. We have a different system here. I think players here can relate to the system – coming off pick-and-rolls, spot up jumpers. I think it’s going to be a different team.”

Did you learn anything from that Lakers team that you can bring to this team?
SO: “That was an unorthodox experience, and it will probably never happen again. It wasn’t that the egos didn’t work out; it’s just that we never got on the same page. It wasn’t because of our own individual egos. It was a whole other situation.”

Players on this team like to run. Do you fear that they will leave you behind?
SO: “No. If I’m getting the rebound and passing it to J-Will (Jason Williams), that’s two points. I don’t worry about getting the ball. Everyone has a part to play. I’ll give it to Jason, he’ll give it to whoever’s out there and bada-bang, bada-bing. If I don’t get the rebound, then I’ll get down to get the ball. I don’t worry about that because in the playoffs it’s all going to slow down. It’s going to be about whoever is the most consistent.”

Is the HEAT the favorite to win the Eastern Conference championship?
SO: “We always have high expectations. We have the pieces now to get it done. Now it’s up to us to go out and get it done.”

Do you feel that time is running out on your career?
SO: “No. I just have to be smart. I’m not a young jitterbug anymore. When I was a young jitterbug, I never won. I didn’t start winning until I got older. The older I get, the wiser I get. You just have to play it smart.”

Can you talk about your decision to be a leader in the locker room?
SO: “When you’re dealing with people, people are going to be who they are. They just have to be given simple rules to reach for the same goal. If I go to my house from here, I’m going to take my car. Someone else may take their bike. The goal is to get to a certain place, but people are going to do it differently. I just have to let people be themselves.”