Shaquille O’Neal never misses a shot at cracking a joke. Right around his birthday, O’Neal has made ripples with his latest comments. Just recently, the 4x NBA Champion demanded that Stephen Curry be included in the GOAT debate. He made the same claim two years ago, but the experts have yet to change their minds. And now, he even seemingly claimed that his former head coach stole his idea as he dropped a major NBA Finals prediction.

As the action approaches close, TNT host Adam Lefkoe mentioned Phil Jackson’s famous theory that can predict the three top contenders for the NBA Finals. It’s the 40-before-20 technique, which has been accurate for several years. Lefkoe’s first question was whether the former coach had ever mentioned this to O’Neal. To which Shaq gave a hilarious response, claiming he was the one who gave the idea to Jackson. “I told him that but okay,” Shaq said.

As Lefkoe repeated, “So apparently Phil Jackson stole that from you?” to which Shaq said yes. He was most likely joking. Shaq is someone who, even during a serious discussion, will have you laughing while keeping a straight face. Currently, there are three teams that have met this condition, Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Boston Celtics. Then came Lefkoe’s second question which is who, as per O’Neal, has the best chances, and is it among these three? The 4x NBA champ responded positively to the question and named Boston Celtics as the ultimate one. “Boston has many weapons,” he explained on The Big Podcast.

For those who don’t know, the 40-before-20 rule was apparently suggested by Jackson. As per this theory, if an NBA team wins 40 regular-season games, which is one-third of the total, before losing 20, the team becomes a strong contender. Well, this isn’t the first time. Both O’Neal and Chuck have previously argued that these teams might have a better chance.

Shaquille O’Neal shows immense faith on Cavaliers and Thunders

Previously, on NBA TNT, the Los Angeles Lakers legend made a bold claim. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers were the two teams that had a great start, and O’Neal believed they had a chance to reach the 2025 NBA Finals. This was even before the postseason.

“OKC and Cleveland in the Finals… That’s what I know what will happen for a fact,” Shaq said on NBA on TNT. He also showed massive faith in the Cleveland Cavaliers, which now seemingly extends to the Celtics. Not just Shaq, but his colleague Charles Barkley recently shared the same opinion, stating that the Cavaliers will make it to the Finals. 

“Right now I’m telling y’all and I told you to book it last week the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to the NBA finals,” he said. It’s interesting that only a few teams made it to the finals without these conditions. The Houston Rockets (1995), Detroit Pistons (2004), Miami Heat (2006), and Milwaukee Bucks (2021) are the only teams that managed to survive Phil Jackson’s one condition and pull off an upset. These are the teams that defied the odds. Do you think any team might break the norm, or will it be just as O’Neal predicted?