Dwyane Wade called him out in the media. Pat Riley called him out with a quick hook.

Apparently, Shaquille O'Neal has received the message.

"I'll step up," the Heat center vowed after Tuesday's practice. "I will. Have no fear."

"Some of what he's saying and some of what Dwyane's saying is true," he said. "I've got to step up."

Wade said his call for a move away from the constant pounding of the ball into the post was never meant as a slight.

"He's worked for 15 years to power ? bang, bang, bang," Wade said.

"Now we're trying to make it easier on him. We don't want him to go out there and bang, bang, bang as much."

O'Neal, 35, said his reference of now playing "my way" was his way of getting back to a more driven approach.

"I'm not a trouble-maker," he said. "I'm not trying to start any trouble. But that's something I always say to myself, 'my way.'"