Magic Johnson Feels Celtics Might Face Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s Shocking Fate in Finals

Magic Johnson isn’t calling it but he’s hinting at something for the NBA Finals. Throwing it back to his analyst era, Earvin “Magic” Johnson was on X giving a detailed breakdown on his predictions for the Mavs vs Celtics series that kicks off on Thursday. It’s obvious that, like many other veterans, he’s leaning toward the Boston Celtics to bring the championship back for the first time since 2008. He’s basing his analysis on the stars on both teams and Celts happen to outnumber Dallas in that regard. Yet he’s scarred by what happened in 2004 to outrightly say it.

At first, Magic wrote, “Both teams have two superstars – Luka [Doncic] and Kyrie [Irving] for the Mavs and Jayson [Tatum] and Jaylen [Brown] for the Celtics. But overall, when you think about the edge in talent, it goes to the Celtics. They have the two next best players in the series in Jrue Holiday and Derrick White – and if Kristaps Porzingis plays, he’ll be the third!”

By most accounts it is true. Since the blockbuster acquisitions in the offseason, the Celtics look near invincible. However, one could contend that the Mavs post the trade deadline in February are a lot stronger with the additions of PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford. They also have a strong backup in Dereck Lively.

Magic questioned what would Celtics’ strategy be writing, “Celtics’ Coach Mazzulla has an important decision to make – Will he put his best on-ball defender Jrue Holiday on Kyrie or Luka?” However, he’s seemingly more concerned about a team packed with too much talent.

As much as the Celtics have more than one strong backup, Magic advises to learn a quick history lesson. “The Celtics are supposed to win the Series, but I’ve seen the team with the most talent lose before.” And that he refers to is the 2004 NBA championship.

Two years after the three-peat, the Lakers were led by top-billed stars like Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton, and Karl Malone. They looked relatively stacked compared to the Pistons, who had prime Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and Chauncey Billups. The series ended 4-1 in favor of Detroit, proving to be O’Neal’s last contribution to the city of LA.

No wonder Rasheed Wallace has the confidence to claim that the ’04 Pistons could beat the ’17 Warriors. Remember, even Draymond Green believed the prime Warriors team could beat the prime Shaq-led Lakers. Something about a roster stuffed to the brim with talent could make Boston suffer the same fate as the ’04 Lakers.

Analyst Magic Johnson is in the house

Back when the Lakers were fresh off consecutive championships and in the Finals once more, Magic Johnson was a new NBA analyst. He had a permanent spot on TNT’s Inside the NBA while future analyst Shaq was playing. Dipping into that experience, Magic had a hot take for Boston. “Remember the 2004 Finals between the Lakers and Pistons? Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace upset my Lakers with 4 Hall of Fame players: Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Gary Payton, and Karl Malone. They even had Horace Grant!”

While Johnson did give the advantage to the Celtics, he doesn’t discount the Mavs because of what he’s seen play out before. “The Mavericks definitely have an opportunity to win the championship as the team that’s hot right now and playing with a lot of confidence and swagger!”

Ultimately, when it comes to a stronger roster, the former TNT and ESPN analyst believes Boston has the edge. “Luka and Kyrie won’t have the same luxury of resting on defense like they did against the Timberwolves, because every starter on the Celtics team is a scoring threat. Another big difference in this series is Dallas can’t afford for Luka and Kyrie to get into foul trouble, but on the other side, the Celtics can handle Jaylen or Jayson getting in foul trouble and having to sit out because they have depth on their bench!”

Jaylen Brown has Finals experience with Jayson Tatum who’s been dominant in playoffs for multiple seasons. Dallas hasn’t been in the Finals since 2011 and only Kyrie Irving boasts championship experience. We’d have to see if Magic is spot-on soon.