"Their former teammate will formally say goodbye to the NBA on Friday at his Orlando-area home.

But as they prepared for Thursday's Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat stars Dwyane Wade and LeBron James paused to express their appreciation for all Shaquille O'Neal has meant to themselves and the league.

"One thing about Shaq," Wade said, "is he did it the way he wanted to do it. At the end of the day, he had fun with the game. He did it the way he wanted to do it for 19 years. There's not many people who can say that.

"He said what he wanted to say, he did what he wanted to do. And not many people can say that. So he enjoyed his time in the NBA."

For Wade, there were some of the best of times and leanest of times during the three-plus seasons as Heat teammates.

"First of all," Wade said following Thursday's shootaround at AmericanAirlines Arena. "I think of the 19 years, as a fan, when Shaq first got into this game. But more so than anything, as a teammate, just always appreciative of the opportunity to play with one of the greatest to ever put on the NBA jersey, and really learned a lot from him, as a professional."

The Heat advanced to the Eastern Conference finals when O'Neal joined the team for the 2004-05 season and then won the franchise's only NBA title in 2006. From there, the Heat failed to win another playoff game before O'Neal forced his trade to the Phoenix Suns in the middle of the 2007-08 season, when the Heat fell to a league-worst 15-67.

"We had some great years together," Wade said. "So I'm humbled, and totally honored to have been a teammate. But as a fan, just seeing the dominance of what he did will never be forgotten, and what he did off the court, always fun-loving.""