Shaquille O’Neal picks the Los Angeles Lakers to defeat the Denver Nuggets

Since his retirement from the NBA following the 2010-11 season, Shaquille O’Neal has remained in the spotlight. His presence on TNT’s Inside the NBA helps with that as the eighteen-time Sports Emmy Awards winning show is widely considered the most entertaining basketball show on the air.

The network released the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers picks for each of the first round series’, which he originally shared on Friday’s broadcast, tweeting:

.@SHAQ has the Lakers taking down the reigning champs in Round 1 👀 pic.twitter.com/LaaDazN6hO

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 21, 2024

Despite entering the series having lost eight consecutive games to the Denver Nuggets, O’Neal believes the Los Angeles Lakers will knock off the defending champions in a highly-anticipated rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals. The Lakers were unable to get a Game 1 victory despite getting off to a strong start. After leading by as many as 12 points with six minutes left in the second quarter, they wound up losing the game 114-103, marking their ninth straight loss to the Nuggets.

While it is difficult to let a game slip away, Los Angeles still has the opportunity to steal home court advantage, if they are able to knock Denver off in Game 2 Monday night. They are reportedly set to welcome back Christian Wood, who has missed more than two months with a left knee injury, in Game 3. His presence will provide the Lakers with a much needed extra body to throw at Nikola Jokic. It remains to be seen if head coach Darvin Ham will turn to a two-big lineup, such as the team did when they knocked off the Nuggets in the 2020 Western Conference Finals.