Miami ? Shaquille O’Neal knew his left leg felt weak. He just didn’t think it needed to be surgically repaired.

“I knew something was wrong with it when I went back, but I was very surprised when they said surgery,” said O’Neal, speaking to the media for the first time since having surgery to repair torn cartilage Nov. 19. “My question after the surgery was, ‘How long do I have to go out there and sit and watch my guys go through what they’re going through.’ But they’re going to hold it down for me, and I’ll be back.”

When O’Neal will be back remains uncertain. O’Neal said he has a target date, but wouldn’t reveal that date, saying only that it is four to six weeks after the surgery.

That could mean as early as Dec. 18 against the Hornets or as late as Jan. 3 against the Clippers. Given that O’Neal is 34, it’s more likely he will take closer to six weeks to recover.

O’Neal said he has begun the rehabilitation process, which includes strengthening the muscles around the knee.

“It’s like starting over,” O’Neal said. “A couple of days before I got the second diagnosis, I made the comment that my leg was dead. Usually when you have a knee injury your quads and everything just shut down. That’s what was happening. Now I just have to rebuild all that back up.”

Heat coach Pat Riley would like to see O’Neal avoid similar injuries by coming back lighter than he was at the start of this season.

“Right now, I hope his thought process is that he tries to almost reinvent himself physically in some way, shape or form,” Riley said.