Shaquille O’Neal Bets Against Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, Backs His MVP Pick and the Thunder

The playoffs are heating up in the stacked Western Conference as the Dallas Mavericks take on the youngest top seed, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has had an MVP-worthy season, but he will face some stern competition from the Mavericks backcourt of Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic in the Conference Semifinals. However, Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t seem to think so.

Luka and Shai have been battling for the top spot in the MVP race all season, which belonged to the Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic at the end of the season. The two superstars’ teams will now get a chance to settle the debate in the postseason. But Shaq has already made up his mind.

The Big Diesel believes that his pick for this season’s league MVP, Gilgeous-Alexander, and his Thunder are gonna breeze past the Mavs to the Conference Finals. “I look for OKC to win this series very easily. I know Dallas has two dynamic scorers. But the way this young team is playing,” Shaq declared on Inside the NBA. 

Looking at the squads, it’s clear that OKC plays with more fluidity and enjoys passing the ball around. “They are a unit,“ claimed O’Neal, pointing out exactly that. The four-time NBA Champion believes that this unity in the Thunder can outplay the superstar tandem from Dallas.

“They are so together. I think they are on a mission, and when a team is on a mission, they are very difficult to beat,“ Shaq further added. The Thunder have really shown strong resolve toward the end of the season, winning the three-way race against Denver and Minnesota to grab the top seat in the West.

On the other hand, Dallas is hobbled as Doncic deals with knee issues and Kleber is probably out of the entire series. However, the Mavs are more experienced than the Thunder. And NBA postseason always rewards the experienced.

But Shaq had a different reason for backing the Thunder. He believes that they are on a mission and that’s why it’ll be hard to get past them. Another reason why O’Neal might be hyping up OKC is that SGA is his MVP pick for this year, and he would surely not want him losing in the second round.

Shaq picked SGA to take home the MVP this year

Before their current matchup in the second round of the playoffs, the two teams met four times in the regular season. The Thunder won three out of the four contests, with one even being a blowout. Before the March edition of this contest being played at Paycom Center, O’Neal was asked about Shai and the MVP race. 

Shaq declared the SGA should be crowned the MVP at age 25.

“SGA is my MVP right now. He fits both our criteria. He’s the baddest m-f-, shut-your-mouth in the league and his team is winning,” O’Neal said. “He’s definitely my MVP.”

 Shai has warranted his name being called alongside Doncic and Jokic, as he averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 assists, and 5.5 boards this season[ per StatMuse]. He also leads the league in steals, clocking in over 2 steals per game, for a total of 104 steals this season. Let’s see if he can pick Doncic’s pocket in their upcoming second-round matchup.