After the Boston Celtics won their first championship since 2008 this past season where they beat the Dallas Mavericks in five games to hang up their 18th banner, people have been continuing to question the legitimacy due to the competition. Former basketball player Shaquille O'Neal discussed this topic of conversation on his online show “The Big Podcast” talking about the Celtics and the road it took to get to the NBA Finals and ultimately their title win.
Capturing the No. 1 seed with ease in the Eastern Conference, Boston would face the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Indiana Pacers in the pathway to the NBA Finals. However, O'Neal would say that the Celtics “had it easy,” though he would stress that it was not their fault since they can not control who they face.
“Boston had it easy. It’s not their fault,” Shaquille O’Neal said on “The Big Podcast” recently. “It’s not their fault. I don’t care, they won. … they won it and they won it square but there is still a lot of doubters. Their road was too easy, so when their road stiffens up and they don’t win, then that statement will be verified. Now, if they win next year, with all these teams healthy you’ve got to give them their respect. But, you know how us haters and us commentators do. OK, you got one, win two.”
The Celtics playoff run and the injuries to other teams
There is no doubt that the teams Boston faced in the Eastern Conference bracket suffered some injuries as even in the first round against the Heat, they were without their featured star in Jimmy Butler who had an MCL sprain suffered in the play-in tourney. Then against the Cavaliers, there was multiple games where stars Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen missed time and eventually with the Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton was injured during Game 2 and was out for the rest of the series.
Even if Indiana did not make it past the New York Knicks in the semifinals, the Celtics would have had to face New York who were also dealing with injuries of their own. In any situation, people would call the road for the champions easy and place an asterisks on the run, but injuries are undoubtedly part of the sport.
O'Neal understands why Celtics are favorites, but likes teams in the West
Still, Boston faced the Mavericks who had their main two stars in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving and beat them in five games on top of having a dominant regular season. Now the microscope will be put on the team to go back to back as champions as even O'Neal said on his podcast that he wants to see the Celtics beat those teams when they are healthy.
“I’m impressed by this year but this year is already over,” O’Neal said on his podcast. “So if you want to impress me, if you want to separate yourself as the best, most successful franchise, beat those teams when they are healthy.”
In any sense, the Los Angeles Lakers legend, who even played for Boston towards the tail end of his career, mentioned how he would put money on the Western Conference coming out as next season's champions. The teams he would briefly mentioned are the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns though he sees how people would put money on the Celtics as the favorite to win it all again.
“I actually do. I never understood it,” O'Neal said when asked if he understands why Boston is the favorite. “But I do agree, I know people like Boston in the East, but I'm thinking Denver's gonna make some noise…I'm going to bet on the West because I like Denver, you got Phoenix.”
Time will tell if the Celtics will win a second consecutive championship, but it is also important to remember how successful this past season was for them as they had a 64-18 record, the best in the NBA, and won a championship with ease.
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