Right now, there remains a glimmer of hope for the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite what has been an undeniably horrible season for them this year, all hope is not lost. At least not yet.

Lakers legend Shaquille O'Neal appears to be on the same boat. The Hall of Fame big man recently came out with an extremely bold prediction about his beloved purple and gold while also throwing shade at the Phoenix Suns. According to Shaq, he's taking LeBron James and the Lakers if they end up facing the Suns in the first round of the playoffs.

Shaq started off by admitting how frustrated he is with the Lakers and how they've performed this season. Speaking on a recent episode of his podcast, O'Neal explained why he believes this team has fallen well short of the expectations many had on them before the start of the season:

“I'm disappointed in my Lakers,” Shaq started. “A lot of people are. We all forgot about their ages. ‘Ooh, Westbrook's coming. Ooh, they got Carmelo.' We're used to having team with big-name stars on them. So, you got a team with three Hall of Famers you would think they'd be in six or seven.”

Shaq then slapped LeBron and the Lakers with the harsh reality of possibly missing the Play-In game altogether. However, if LA actually does enough to book their place in the postseason, then O'Neal is more than willing to put his money on them over the Suns:

“AD's not playing so, I doubt they even make the Play-In game,” Shaq said. “But if they do, they definitely have to win and they will face Phoenix in the first round. If they make it to the eighth spot they will beat Phoenix. Yeah, you heard me. Cuz AD gonna be back. Shaqtradamus will be correct.”

The Suns are sitting pretty at the very top of the Western Conference with a league-best record of 58-14. It doesn't look like the Golden State Warriors or any other team in the West will be able to catch the Suns so they have pretty much locked up the first seed in the conference. Should the Lakers get through the Play-In tournament, then they are going to be the eighth seed and will have to face Phoenix in the first round.

Should this be the case, then this is going to be a preview of last year's first-round playoffs matchup. Shaq believes, however, that this time around, it's going to be LeBron and Co. who will be coming out on top against a heavily-favored Suns squad.

Shaq went on to talk about Russell Westbrook and how the former league MVP could turn the corner at any given time:

“Westbrook's been playing bad,” he continued. “All it takes is for certain people like that to just play good one or two games and then it snaps right back.”

O'Neal does have a point here. Russ is in the midst of arguably the worst season of his decorated career. However, the season is not over yet. We all know what this man is capable of and while he has been a shadow of his former self thus far, as Shaq said, all Westbrook needs is a couple of good games to get back on track.

Shaq's co-host then went on to ask the Lakers icon to make sense of his disrespect towards the Suns, who at the moment, are looking like the favorites to go all the way this year. O'Neal busted out his trademark sarcasm to throw shade at Phoenix:

“Why is it disrespect?” Shaq asked. “Because they're in the first spot? Whoopy freakin' doo. Okay, golf clap. Eveyrbody in here clap. Phoenix is in the first spot. Congratulations, they have the first spot. Whoopy freakin' doo.”

Let us not forget that Shaq actually used to play for the Suns. He suited up for Phoenix for two seasons during the latter part of his career and he actually earned his 15th and final All-Star nod — at the age of 36 — during his second year with the Suns.

Nevertheless, it is clear where Shaq's loyalty lies. This man bleeds purple and gold through and through and while he also has not been shy about criticizing his beloved Lakers, there's also no denying that this squad holds a special place in the big man's heart.

Lakers fans will be hoping that Shaq is being prophetic here are they look to cling on to any sort of hope for their team this season.