Shaquille O’Neal, who’s affectionately known as ‘The Big Aristotle’ among his many monickers, felt that there was no ceiling on the Dallas Mavericks’ championship potential following their regular season win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Shortly after the conclusion of the game, O’Neal shared his prediction on the TNT broadcast that he believes the newest Mav Klay Thompson will “average 20 a game” and that the team will win the 2025 NBA title.
"Klay will average 20 and the Mavs will win the Championship"
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 25, 2024
The guys made sure @SHAQ locked in his post-it worthy take ✍️🤣 pic.twitter.com/9ONqed9H8J
The NBA Hall of Famer, who actually owns a home in the D-FW area, stood in contrast to his NBA on TNT colleague Charles Barkley who was a little more uncertain of Thompson’s outlook as a Dallas Maverick after being traded from the Golden State Warriors in the offseason.
O’Neal knows a thing or two about winning championships, having won four of his own, three in Los Angeles and one over the Mavs in 2006 with the Miami Heat. He was also the Finals MVP every time in the three consecutive titles he won with the Lakers from 2000-2002.
The Mavs will next face an intriguing test against a team that could potentially stand in the way of a return trip to the NBA Finals when they visit the Phoenix Suns on Saturday at 9 p.m.
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