The Boston Celtics have been the best team in the NBA for months now, but not everyone is a believer in their playoff chances. According to NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, the Celtics are overrated and they still have a lot to prove before he considers them a truly elite team.
“You’ve got to show me,” said Shaq of the Celtics. “I've been in this league a long time, seen a lot of guys that have had a great regular season but they didn't win championships.”
The Boston Celtics have opened a 14-game lead for the first seed in the East, but without the proper hardware to show it, OGs like Shaq and others will never view them from the same lens as other championship contenders.
When asked what it takes to get to that next level and become a team that goes all the way, Shaq pointed to consistency and the demand to be great every night as opposed to every other game.
“Consistency and dominate consistently. Got to do more, every game,” said O’Neal. “Every game you got to go to another level. And then you need optional others to have out-of-worldly games."
There is no denying that the Celtics are a good team. With a 62-17 record, they have been hard to beat all season long and it’s been that way for years now in the Jayson Tatum era. This season, in the aftermath of the trades for Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics have, arguably, their best roster since 2008, and the expectation from everyone (except Shaquille O’Neal) is to make a deep playoff run.
A Questionable Playoff History For Boston
The Celtics have been impressively successful in the Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum era. With several trips to the Conference Finals and even the NBA Finals in 2022, Boston has more experience than most teams in the league right now.
Of course, for all their talent and experience, the Celtics still have yet to go all the way as a unit, and many consider it a massive disappointment given how good their team has been over the past few years.
Last season, after clawing back to beat the 76ers from down 3-2 in the series, Boston advanced only to go down 3-1 to the 8th-seeded Heat in the next round. They would lose in 7 games before watching the Nuggets win the Finals.
Every year, it seems the Celtics suffer some kind of defeat like this, and that is why they have yet to win a title despite winning so many regular-season games. One would think that after so long together, the Cs would have figured it out, but it’s clear they still have some questions to answer in the playoffs. For Shaq and other critics, it's just impossible to take the Celtics seriously until they close the deal and finish the job. And if it doesn't happen this year, then Shaq will not be the only one to voice his doubts about this team and how far they can go with Tatum and Brown leading the way.
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