PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal sounded very high on the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night’s edition of TNT’s "Inside The NBA." With over 4 million followers on Twitter and a recent documentary about the show, the opinions of its pundits hold a lot of weight.
“Brooklyn is the favorite,” O’Neal said when asked about the contenders in the Eastern Conference (about the 5:15 mark below). “They got three talented guys. The fact they haven’t really played together a long period of time and they’re still in first is very, very scary, but I like Philadelphia.”
O’Neal — one of the most dominant big men of all time during his prime with the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic — particularly liked the “old-school basketball” the Sixers were playing in their 106-96 victory at the Boston Celtics on Tuesday. They played through Joel Embiid, in only his second game back from a lengthy knee injury. The MVP candidate scored 35 points and dominated the inferior guard from Boston.
"It was actually some beautiful basketball to watch, so Philly is my favorite," he said.
As O’Neal mentioned, the Brooklyn Nets feature “The Big 3” — Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving — who haven’t all been on the court together very much. And he's right: The fact that the Nets are heading into Friday night’s action in first place in the East by a half-game over the Sixers — without the full power of their “Big 3” — is “scary.”
It is important to note that, apparently, two nights earlier on “NBA on TNT Tuesday,” O’Neal was backing Brooklyn over the Sixers. In Tuesday's postgame show, TNT analyst and WNBA star Candace Parker called O’Neal out for evidently flip-flopping.
O’Neal, only hours removed from being impressed with Embiid’s performance in Boston, explained (at the 2:00 mark below) if he plays like that and makes his teammates better as a result, it would “be real easy to win a championship.”
Parker responded, "You just confirmed earlier that the Nets were for sure gonna win the championship, so I’m just confused."
Confusing? Yes, but we’ll take O'Neal's latest remarks about the Sixers.
Meantime, Sixers icon Charles Barkley — who said the 76ers were his favorites shortly after James Harden was dealt to Brooklyn — now says it’s going to be among not just the Nets and 76ers, but also the Milwaukee Bucks, who are not too far behind.
Related
While the Nets have Durant, Harden and Irving, and the Sixers have Embiid, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris, the Bucks are led by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has missed the last three games (1-2) with a knee injury. Without question — as Giannis goes, the Bucks go.
Barkley believes getting the top seed is crucial for any of these three teams having the easiest path to the Finals, because whoever is No. 1 will face either the four or five seed in the second round. Two-time NBA champ Kenny Smith disagreed with Barkley that the four-five seed won’t be an issue for whoever is first because he thinks if the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics get hot and work their way up the standings, they could be a tough out.
Who’s the MVP?
While predicting how the Eastern Conference will shape up is a fun topic, so is forecasting who will win Most Valuable Player in the league.
O’Neal has Denver’s Nikola Jokić (26.3 points per game/10.9 rebounds per game/8.7 assists per game) and Embiid (29.9 points per game/11.2 rebounds per game/3.2 assists per game) as his favorites.
Smith doesn’t think Embiid can qualify because of the time he missed with his injury. Smith favors Jokić and James Harden (25.2 points per game/8 rebounds per game/10.9 assists per game), but Harden is out at least 10 days now with a hamstring injury.
Barkley says Phoenix Suns All-Star Chris Paul should be in the debate. Paul is averaging only 16.2 points per game, but in his first season in Phoenix, the soon-to-be-36-year-old is part of a squad that’s second in the Western Conference, very likely playoff bound for the first time since 2010.
There is still a little over a month left in the regular season, which is plenty of time for any MVP candidate to make a stronger case.