Doubt followed the Boston Celtics last season from Opening Night throughout their league-best 64-win campaign and stuck by them for the NBA Finals. Shaquille O'Neal, a harsh critic of the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown-led squad, remains adamant about doubting the now-reigning champions, even after Banner 18.
Instead of looking back on the embarrassing Eastern Conference Finals crumbling to the No. 8 seed Miami Heat, the Celtics will this time open up their 2024-25 season in banner-raising fashion. Boston will receive its championship rings and sport some commemoratory attire on Oct. 22 against the New York Knicks at TD Garden. The vibes will be at an all-time high although O'Neal doesn't view the latest Celtics title victory as impressive or validating, but more so an escape from utter postseason failure.
"We all know Boston had the easiest run ever to that championship," O'Neal told Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller on "The OGs" podcast. "Can they back it up? That's all. Can you back it up? Okay, you had the easy run, it don't matter. Can you back it up? What you gonna do, Philly? Paul George? Joel Embiid? What you gonna do, Milwaukee? Orlando, what y'all gonna do? Miami? So in the East, I'm looking forward to that story."
O'Neal can play the low-hanging fruit card 24 hours a day, but that doesn't take credit away from Tatum, Brown or the Celtics. Boston did its job in the regular season by blowing teams out left and right, setting an NBA record with 19 wins by 25 or more points, including two in the playoffs, to prove itself as the hands-down best team in the league. The Celtics didn't lose more than twice consecutively, a trend that also carried itself out in the playoffs, and didn't even have Kristaps Porzingis -- the team's third-highest scorer (19.7 points) -- healthy for 12 of the team's 19 postseason contests. Nobody considers the Bucks beneficiaries in their 2021 title run, even though Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee defeated a short-handed Brooklyn Nets -- without Kyrie Irving and James Harden beyond Game 4 -- in the semifinals. Most importantly, O'Neal, a four-time champion himself, didn't predict Boston defeating Dallas.
Story continues below advertisement
"The Celtics do not have three or four guys that can guard Luka. I like Dallas in this series and I like how they're playing," O'Neal said in May before the Finals. "I think this is a little special for Kyrie, maybe a little special for Porzingis as he plays because I know he played in Dallas. But I think I like Dallas in this series."
Boston's already proven O'Neal wrong before, and with over 86% of the roster returning for a re-run -- except for Oshae Brissett and Svi Mykhailiuk -- the Celtics are already well-equipped to clutter the streets of Boston once again with confetti, champagne and tears of joy to kick off the summer of 2025.
Featured image via David Butler II/Imagn Images
