2 Down, 1 to Go?

How do you sum up Shaquille O’Neal’s cross-country move to the Miami Heat in a single word, when new teammate Eddie Jones required a double-unbelievable to describe it, when South Beach nightclub owners are stepping over one another to set aside private tables for O’Neal in their VIP rooms, when the evening “SportsCenter” is almost entirely devoted to an interview with Shaq?

The only choice is the word that used to be commonplace in the Laker locker room. For all of O’Neal’s self-appointed nicknames, from the Diesel to the Don Dada, whenever Laker players and staff referred to him they needed only three letters: big.

How big?

The Heat, which officially acquired Shaq on Wednesday, is talking about sold-out games and a championship.

The Lakers, who received Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, Caron Butler and a future No. 1 draft pick in return, are talking about rebuilding.

One player changes teams and the whole perspective changes with him.

“We went from basketball hell to basketball heaven in 18 months because this man was available,” Heat President Pat Riley told Miami reporters.

And ever since the news broke last week that the Heat and Lakers were in negotiations to trade O’Neal, the city has been gearing up in anticipation.

People called or dropped by the Champs sports store a block from the arena.

“They’ve been asking, do we have the O’Neal jersey yet?” said Cesar Barreiro, a sales clerk.

Asked how soon they’ll sell out once they do arrive, Barreiro doesn’t even need a word. He snaps his fingers.

Heat public address announcer Michael Baiamonte has been testing out different ways to say O’Neal’s name. He should have plenty of practice, because no one discusses anything else.

“Everyone I see, everyone I bump into that’s all they want to talk about,” Baiamonte said. “It’s everywhere.”

Baiamonte introduced Jones and Heat reserve Rasual Butler to summer campers gathered at American Airlines Arena for a Heat public outreach program. After the players took the floor, a small but unmistakable chant went up from some of the 8,500 kids in the seats.

“We want Shaq. We want Shaq.”

The players do too.

“Everything he does is big,” Butler said. “It’s big news that he’s coming here.”

Jones, who played with O’Neal at the Forum from 1996 to 1999, used to try to explain to his Miami teammates what it was like to be on the same team as the game’s dominant big man.

“Once you’ve got a big player on the team, it creates layups, it creates wide-open jump shots,” Jones said. “The guys really didn’t understand that. I was like, ‘You get a big player, you’ll really understand that.’

“I was just saying that to them. I never imagined that we would acquire Shaquille O’Neal. It’s unbelievable. Unbelievable.”

Like Jones, Miami assistant coach Bob McAdoo said this trade was practically a no-brainer for the Heat.

“That’s once in a lifetime,” McAdoo said. “It’s a deal you’ve almost got to pull the trigger on. We hated to lose three starters, three good guys. But if we can get some players around [O’Neal], we can be a force in the East.”

The Heat already signed Michael Doleac to back up O’Neal, and Robert Horry is open to the idea of reuniting with O’Neal.

Having the Heat as a force in Miami is a bit of a change. This always has been an attendance-challenged franchise. Not even the 1999 move from the outdated Miami Arena in a dicey neighborhood to the glimmering American Airlines Arena by the bay helped much. Last season’s team averaged 15,239.

The Miami Dolphins were the city’s first major sports team, and they’ll always have priority in this football-crazed state. One Heat fan was so excited by Shaq’s arrival that he told a local TV station that the Heat definitely was going “to the bowl.”

No matter what the intended destination (that would be the NBA Finals), fans will watch the journey. News of O’Neal’s arrival prompted a surge in ticket sales.

“Over at the business office at American Airlines Arena, it’s like being on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange,” Riley said. “It’s an absolute frenzy.”

Said Jones: “They’re probably going to be sold out every night. I’m looking forward to playing in front of 23,000.”

(The fire marshal might have something to say about that, as the building’s official capacity for basketball is 19,600).

The most down-to-earth perspective in the city came from a man named Steve who had two parrots on his arm. No last name given. He stood in the middle of the Bayside Marketplace, asking passersby if they wanted to pay a small fee to take pictures with the parrots, Conan and Lucky. No last names for them either.

He questioned whether Miami’s fickle sports fans would fill the seats over the long term.

“The Marlins won the World Series,” Steve said. “Do you see anyone in Pro Player Stadium?”

The defending champion Marlins’ average attendance of 22,431 ranks 24th in the major leagues.

“This is a tough sports town,” Steve said. “Come around the All-Star break and see if we’re winning, see if the fans still care.”

If not, there will always be the parrots.

Of course, by the team’s actions the Heat has now been drawn into the national soap opera that is the Lakers.

Jones spent 2 1/2 years inside that locker room, was literally and physically closer to Bryant, so he was asked whom he we would pick if he had to choose between the two.

“I wouldn’t pick,” Jones said. “I’d try my best to keep those guys together.”

Did he ever think they’d reach this point, where they simply could not coexist anymore?

“Man,” he said. “You win three titles, I don’t know why you can’t coexist. It’s all about winning. I don’t know who is the guy that didn’t want to play with which.

“But I’m happy to have Shaquille here.”

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/adande.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Shaq Factor

Key numbers for the Lakers with and without Shaquille O’Neal during his eight L.A. seasons:

*--* With Without Winning pct. 733 527 Pts. per game 101.7 96.6 Field goal pct. 468 431

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Big Deals

Most significant NBA trades involving centers:

* 1965: The San Francisco Warriors trade Wilt Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers for center/forward Connie Dierking, guard Paul Neumann, forward Lee Shaffer and cash.

* 1968: Philadelphia 76ers trade center Wilt Chamberlain to Lakers for guard Archie Clark, center Darrell Imhoff, forward Jerry Chambers and cash.

* 1975: The Milwaukee Bucks trade center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and center Walt Wesley to the Lakers for center Elmore Smith, guard Brian Winters, forward Dave Meyers and forward Junior Bridgeman.

* 2004: The Lakers trade center Shaquille O’Neal to the Miami Heat for forwards Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and Caron Butler, and a first-round draft pick.