What a call here by Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq. Shaqtus. Whatever you want to call this singular pop culture icon, who goes toe to toe with one of America’s other foremost sports media personalities in Charles Barkley all the time on Inside the NBA. This show is magic. We’re fortunate to be living during its existence. Before the good ol’ days become the good ol’ days, we must cherish Shaq and Chuck while we have them.
For whatever other issues folks have with the NBA and how it’s run or marketed, you can’t argue that Shaq and Chuck are giving it their all. What’s awesome is, they’re these incredibly gregarious fellas, yet they were also all-time great basketball players. Ball-knowers, they are. Case in point: Shaq called out the Miami Heat to win by 10 points before they tipped off against the Celtics in Wednesday’s Game 2 in Boston. Sir Charles wanted to take a bet. Shaq doubled down at halftime. Miami won by 10.
Look at Shaq pulling the gesture from that infamous, viral Johnny Manziel video. The classic, “I can’t hear you — there’s too much money in my f*****g hand!” Except in this instance, Shaq is mock-dialing Heat president Pat Riley to thank him for (improbably) building a squad that could withstand the absence of Jimmy Butler and hand the Celtics only their 19th loss in 84 games this season (counting playoffs).
Mind you, the Celtics were 14.5-point favorites prior to Game 2. Now all of a sudden, Miami returns home with home-court advantage in tow. My ex-colleague Greenie is in shambles.
The Heat ran all the way to the NBA Finals as an eighth seed last season, beating Boston in the Conference Finals to get there. Every year, people act surprised when they make this sort of run. Over the past four years, they’ve gotten at least to the NBA’s version of the Final Four. Until they are officially eliminated, I’ll never count them out — even if their best player in Butler is sidelined.
This is what #HEATCulture is all about. They have dudes in the pipeline ready to step up at any given moment.
Nikola Jokic is cool, but how about Nikola Jovic? Twenty years young, the 27th pick in the 2022 draft, and stuffing the stat sheet in a must-win playoff game. When you talk about “playing as a team”, nobody epitomizes that more than Miami.
Erik Spoelstra is at least a top-three coach in the sport, and he ain’t three. Hell, he might not even be two. Coach Spo is HIM.
Shaq knew not to bet against the Heat when their backs were against the wall. What a call. Shaqstradamus indeed.
