Shawn Marion was hosting Super Bowl party when he found out about Heat trade

Discussing his trade to the Miami Heat in the 2008 season, Shawn Marion talked about how he was hosting a party when he found out he was traded

The NBA is a business, and sometimes player movement completely ignores the most convenient or “right time” for the athlete and their family. For Shawn Marion, such was the case when he was traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Miami Heat in February of 2008.

Marion was notified of the trade while hosting a Super Bowl party, in which the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots, 17-14.

Speaking to Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles on the Knuckleheads Podcast, Marion recanted the trade, which didn’t get formally reported until three days after the Super Bowl:

"Everybody’s at the crib, a lot of famous celebrities at the crib, we’re sitting there, we’re all sitting on the couches, all laid out watching the game, and uh, I get a call, and I’m like what- what’s goin on, I step outside and I’m like ah sh— I just got traded, like really?”"

While there was probably a feeling of unrest due to the incoming and unexpected change, Marion quickly was able to put a positive spin on the situation, given that he had asked out of Phoenix before the season even started.

"“And I’m like OK, well sh— took long enough, because that’s the season I came out and asked for a trade before the season started.”"

The Suns would get Shaquille O’Neal in this deal, the start of O’Neal’s rather strange close to his Hall of Fame career that featured him in Phoenix, Cleveland, and Boston.

Marion, Richardson, and Miles went on to discuss the inconvenience of mid-season trades, having to up and move yourself and your family.

Immediately, the culture permeated and Marion was impressed with the tone that the organization brought to a new player and family member.

"“They welcomed me like a family, it was open arms when I got there… Even though they was losing, it didn’t feel like a losing organization at all, that’s one of the best organizations in the league. It was a great time.”"

The Heat struggled through injuries in the 2008 season, just two years removed from their first NBA title over the Dallas Mavericks. They finished at just 15-67, getting only 33 games from Shaquille O’Neal and 51 from Dwyane Wade. The Heat were dead last in points scored and offensive rating, and sat 26th in the league in defensive rating.

Marion’s second season with the Heat was a bit better, the team went 43-39 and Marion averaged 12.0 points and 8.7 rebounds in 42 games, starting almost all of them. The Heat would trade Marion to the Toronto Raptors almost exactly a year later at the 2009 trade deadline for Jermaine O’Neal who was well past his prime upon arrival.

Marion was one of the many marginal moves the Heat made prior to landing LeBron James that kept them firmly in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff runs. That said, the Heat were able to essentially turn an aged and injured Shaq into Shawn Marion and then Jermaine O’Neal, not the worst of moves that could be made.

Marion would go on to be the biggest of adversaries for Miami, playing for one of the two teams to best the Heat in the Finals when he played a key starting role for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 title-winning season.