O’Neal considers Jrue Occasion is “as well small” to watch Luka Dončić.
Jayson Tatum and Kyrie Irving amid a Celtics-Mavericks matchup in Walk, 2024.
Seeing the NBA Finals:
The Celtics and Free thinkers are authoritatively set as the 2024 NBA Finals matchup, and the talk about has as of now started.
Agent of the two camps, “Inside the NBA” examiners Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal are part on their finals picks. Barkley likes the Celtics, indeed in the event that Kristaps Porzingis isn’t essentially able to create it back onto the court in time for Amusement 1 (returning from damage).
“Without Porzingis, I still just like the Celtics,” Barkley clarified. “Stan Van Gundy and Reggie [Mill operator] said something truly imperative:
They’ve got four folks that can watch Luka [Dončić] and Kyrie [Irving], and Luka and Kyrie can’t protect those guys on the other conclusion, in my opinion. So I just like the Celtics. I think it’s aiming to be a hell of a series.”
O’Neal unequivocally disagreed.
“The Celtics don’t have three or four folks that can protect Luka,” he countered. “I like Dallas in this arrangement. I just like the way they’re playing. I think this is often a small extraordinary for Kyrie, perhaps a small uncommon for Porzingis since I know he played in Dallas, but I think I like Dallas in this series.”
Comparing Dončić with the unexpected of Boston’s best players who will attempt to protect him, O’Neal moreover considers the 25-year-old Slovenian has the edge in terms of balance on the huge arrange.
“He can’t be ‘shook,’” O’Neal said. “The reality that he’s been a proficient since he was 13 a long time ancient, nothing shakes him. I do not see anyone on Boston managing with that. Maybe [Jayson] Tatum, but if I’m Boston I do not need to induce Tatum or Brown into foul inconvenience. And I think the other folks, as well, you know Jrue Occasion is as well small in my opinion.”
Of course, O’Neal isn’t entirely correct with his appraisal of Dončić’s background. Whereas Dončić joined Genuine Madrid at the age of 13, it was into the Spanish club’s youth advancement program. He didn’t make his proficient make a big appearance until he was 16, in spite of the fact that that was no little feat (becoming the most youthful player in Genuine Madrid’s history).
As for O’Neal’s evaluation of Occasion (and his Boston colleagues), time will tell when the arrangement gets underway on June 6.
