“The Toughest Team to Play”: Shaquille O’Neal Makes Bold Predictions for NBA Playoffs

Shaquille O’Neal won 3 MVPs, played 17 Playoffs, and lifted 4 NBA Championships. We can go all day if we begin discussing his achievements. Point being, he has phenomenal Basketball IQ and hence is a successful sports analyst in the second half of his life. But his latest prediction on NBA Bubble makes it tough to comprehend how he claimed it in the first place.

He strongly believes that the Brooklyn Nets stand a real chance to make it into the playoffs. On paper, they certainly do, and calculations support the claim head-on. However, let’s face it, they lack depth in their current Bubble line-up when compared to others in the Eastern Conference. Standing at 30-34, the road for them is full of major obstacles. 

Can Brooklyn Nets stay in the Top 8?

The Nets are ranking 7th right now. But every team is to play 8 matches from here, and the picture that we see today can entirely change. There is an update in the playoff rule given the extraordinary conditions this year. This time, if less than four wins separate team ranked 8th from the team ranked 9th, they will find themselves in a play-in tournament. If the team ranked 8th wins just one, they will enter the playoffs while the team ranked 9th will need two wins. 

Now, the Nets will see some real threat coming against Orlando Magic and Washington Wizards. Later on, they might get to face a tougher test in either Bucks or Raptors. But that was still manageable if they had their full strength traveling to Orlando. 

Shaquille O’Neal and his trust in the Nets

In NBA on TNT, Shaq was quoted as saying, “Because there’s no home-court advantage and they will be playing in the ballroom, Brooklyn will advance to the second round. You heard it here first,” Shaq added with force, “With no clear-cut home-court advantage, emotions are going to be low and everybody knows they don’t have certain guys. That’s the toughest team to play, a team that you’re up for.” 

A Nets team without Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and DeAndre Jordan looks weak to others, but certainly not to Shaq. Jordan was tested COVID positive, Irving had a shoulder injury, and Durant has his problems with Achilles. Even Claxton is out. So all they have are Chris Chiozza, Caris LeVert, Joe Harris, Jarrett Allen, and Rodions Kurucs among others. We wish them and Shaq good luck!

Who do you think will have the last laugh? Share your opinion with us.