NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal never fails to make the fans laugh with his wholesome humor. As the Miami Heat have now advanced to the playoffs, the star made a hilarious prediction about the first-round matchup with the Boston Celtics.
Now that the regular season has officially ended including the play-in tournament, the Inside the NBA crew chose their picks for the winners of the first round. As it was Shaquille O’Neal‘s turn, the Hall of Famer hilariously switched his vote after learning about Jimmy Butler‘s absence in the series.
He's [Butler] not coming back? He's done for the year? Alright, Boston. Shaquille O’Neal said
It seemed like the veteran’s faith in the Miami Heat was based on the team’s main man alone. As Butler has suffered from an MCL injury, the star will miss the first round of the postseason creating a disadvantage for the Heat. Considering Butler’s dominating reputation in the playoffs, the team especially needs the star during this time in the season.
The Heat did manage to win the play-in tournament game in the absence of Butler, but defeating a team in a seven-game series will certainly be a much more difficult task. Also, the Boston Celtics being the best team in the NBA will add to Miami’s pressure. The team has to bring their A-game to take down the Celtics and possibly prove Shaq wrong.
Shaquille O’Neal had faith in ‘Playoff Jimmy’ during the play-in tournament
It is certainly not new for Shaq and his Inside the NBA co-host Charles Barkley to have disagreements on a daily basis. Before the Heat played their first play-in game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the duo argued on their picks to reach the playoffs.
Barkley predicted that the Sixers will eliminate the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of playoffs. O’Neal shut down Chuck’s claim immediately by declaring that the Heat would defeat the Sixers in the play-in itself. As Shaq reminded Chuck of ‘Playoff Jimmy’, Barkley mentioned the former MVP Joel Embiid.
The Heat gonna beat the Sixers...playoffs start soon, 'Playoff Jimmy.' Shaquille O’Neal added
The star was even ready to bet his car as he had no faith in Embiid. However, to O’Neal’s disappointment, The Sixers won over the Heat making Barkley’s prediction right. But despite Butler’s absence, Miami did make it to the playoffs. Now, the NBA world including O’Neal will have their attention on Heat’s moves without ‘Playoff Jimmy’.
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