“Phil Jackson and Pat Riley Would Say…”: Shaquille O’Neal Claims Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bucks ‘Didn’t Deserve’ Win Over Wemby and Spurs

The Giannis Antetokounmpo-led recent away win for the Milwaukee Bucks produced one of the most exciting games of the season. The title contenders had to grind out a 125-121 victory against Victor Wembanyama‘s San Antonio Spurs in Texas. Despite the entertaining match, Shaquille O’Neal raised question marks over the credibility of the Bucks’ win in the Inside the NBA show on TNT.

Claiming that the Bucks weren’t focused, the 51-year-old stated that they took Spurs ‘lightly’. He further criticized the visitor’s approach to the clash, mentioning,

“Milwaukee eventually pulled it out at the end but when you have that championship mindset, beat the teams you’re supposed to beat, way above 500 on the road, and be dominant at home”.

The 4x champion elaborated on his stance using two of his former head coaches Phil Jackson and Pat Riley as references.

“This would be the time when Phil Jackson and Pat Riley would come in and the only thing they would say is, ‘You didn’t deserve this win tonight. Those kids over there, they played hard. They wanted to win. You guys out here messing around. Eventually, we did win but you can’t have this type of play continue two or three games,'” he declared.

Through his words, Shaq wanted to shed light on the culture the Bucks organization would need to establish to win their second championship of the decade. The Big Aristotle has played under both coaches and knows their approach to more than just winning games. He highlighted the attitude of Jackson and Riley towards winning as the two shared 16 championships between them.

It also showcased the shortcomings of the team that could haunt them in the post-season this year as they look to repeat the mistakes of the past seasons. Bucks went into the 2023 playoffs being the first-seeded team but lost in the very first round against the 8th-seed Miami Heat. So, Shaq might not be totally wrong here, taking the 2021 champions’ history into account.

How did the first matchup between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Victor Wembanyama pan out?

Both players stole the show on the floor as they faced each other in the Frost Bank Center. Wemby went 27-9-1 while registering 5 blocks and scoring 10/18 from the field in front of the home fans to keep his team in the game. Yet, Giannis’ performance was simply too good for the hosts as the Greek Freak registered a double-double of 44-14-7 while shooting 19/28 from the field.

During the match, both the Europeans had to go up against each other on several occasions. Their contest on the court rejoiced the spectators with excitement before Wemby took it a step further. S

oon after the final buzzer, he seemingly ignored the Bucks talisman’s attempt to dap him up. It raised the eyebrows of the NBA fans as they highlighted the contrast of treatment from the Frenchman comparing this instance with that of Kevin Durant‘s.

All in all, it paved the way for anticipation surrounding the future clashes between the teams. As the supporters await to watch the upcoming encounter between these two sides, a potential rivalry remains tough to be ruled out.