Tag: shaquille o’neal

Which Boston Celtics alumni won the most playoff series?

The Boston Celtics have won more titles than any other organization based in the same city in which the franchise was started, but who won the most series?

The Boston Celtics have won more titles than any other organization based in the same city in which the franchise was started, and are tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most NBA championships in league history with 17 apiece. But the Celtics also won them more as a team effort and with more of their titles coming in the years when the playoffs had fewer rounds as well.

Thus, the list of total postseason series won by individual players in the history of the league put together by the staff of our sister site Hoops Hype has fewer Boston alumni on it despite the Celtics’ dominance of the sport for much of the history of the NBA.

But that list has more than a few Celtics alumni on it — let’s take a look at who won how many series among former Boston players.

Shaq hilariously booby-trapped Kenny Smith’s chair just so he could beat him in a race

This was such a hilariously elaborate prank.

By now, the hijinks that the NBA on TNT crew gets up to are known for being absolutely legendary. It’s what makes the studio analysis show one of the more fun and unique in major American sports programming.

I have to say, what Shaquille O’Neal pulled off on Kenny Smith Monday night is something I haven’t seen them try before.

You see, a lot of the time, the guys will spin out of their chairs and race to the board to analyze what’s been happening in a game. Except, when it was Kenny Smith’s turn to sprint against O’Neal, he couldn’t spin out of his chair. He was locked in place because O’Neal wanted to ensure a race by using a button to ensure Smith couldn’t move.

You have to admire the elaborate thought process to think of something like this:

To go from having a serious conversation about basketball to booby traps on chairs is why this bunch is so great to watch. You never know what’s in store.

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LOOK: Jack Nicholson at Lakers games through the years

Jack Nicholson has been a familiar sight for Los Angeles Lakers fans for several decades, thanks to his attendance at the team’s home games. The celebrated actor, known for his roles in iconic films such as The Shining, Chinatown, and Tim Burton‘s Batman, recently returned to the Crypto.com Arena for the first time since the team’s home opener last season.

Take a look at some of the photos of Nicholson over the years showing support for his beloved Lakers.

Charles Barkley, Shaq lost it comparing Derrick White to Stephen A. Smith and their hairlines

Shaq and Chuck did Derrick White and Stephen A. Smith dirty.

Oh, man. The Inside the NBA crew was on one late Tuesday night.

They were talking about the Boston Celtics and guard Derrick White … and noting that his hairline might be moving up the top of his head.

(What they should be talking about is how good White has been for the Celts!! But I digress.)

Then? They compared him to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. Dang. And Smith caught wind of it and tweeted that he was not too pleased (although the smile emojis tell me that he’s totally fine with it).

Here, go watch Shaq and Chuck and the rest of them completely lose it:

Lolo Jones didn’t agree with Shaq calling Angel Reese the ‘greatest athlete’ to come out of LSU

“I think Shaq, honestly, is high on some pain medicines. The list is so big with LSU.”

[autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] is quickly making a name for herself as one of the all-time greats in the LSU canon after leading the program to its first women’s basketball championship.

Reese’s career isn’t over. After earning All-American honors this season, she’ll be back looking for a repeat (and to become the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft next spring).

Still, former LSU men’s basketball star and NBA Hall of Famer [autotag]Shaquille O’Neal[/autotag] raised some eyebrows this week when he called Reese the “greatest athlete to come out of LSU. Male or female.”

She may have a claim when it’s all said and done, but that title is highly contested. One athlete who has a claim to it is former hurdler (and later Olympic bobsledder) [autotag]Lolo Jones[/autotag].

Jones — who won three national titles and earned 11 All-America honors while at LSU — took a shot at Shaq’s characterization, per TMZ, and even implied that pain medication from his recent surgery may have played a roll.

“Shaq knew what he was doing,” Jones said. “Shaq’s just bored. He’s coming off hip surgery. He’s chilling at home. I think Shaq, honestly, is high on some pain medicines. The list is so big with LSU.”

…

“So, for Shaq to have the audacity to say ‘she’s the best ever,'” Jones continued, “I’m like, ‘Bro, chill on the pain meds,’ because that list is arduous. So long.”

Jones certainly has a point. Both she and O’Neal have arguments for making that claim, not to mention other greats like [autotag]Joe Burrow[/autotag], [autotag]Pete Maravich[/autotag], etc.

She later clarified that her comments were not intended to be a shot at Reese but rather to point out the proud history of the athletics department and her track and field program, specifically.

“We’re not hating on Angel. We love to see it. She’s cooking. Let her keep cooking. But I’m telling you, LSU track and field is the powerhouse for that university.”

The debate regarding LSU’s GOAT will continue, but another special season from Reese could certainly bolster her argument.

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Follow Tyler to continue the conversation on Twitter: @TylerNettuno

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Shaq calls Angel Reese ‘the greatest athlete to ever come out of LSU’

“The Big Diesel” went on a podcast and made a claim that Angel Reese is “the greatest athlete to ever come out of LSU. Male or Female.”

[autotag]Shaquille O’Neal[/autotag] went on a podcast and made a claim that [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] is ‘the greatest athlete to ever come out of LSU. Male or Female.’

Yes, he included himself. That is quite the statement when you ponder all of the best LSU athletes. We’re talking about Shaq, [autotag]Joe Burrow[/autotag], ‘Pistol’ [autotag]Pete Maravich[/autotag], [autotag]Seimone Augustus[/autotag] and [autotag]Courtney Blades-Rogers[/autotag]. The list goes on and on.

Shaq may be a victim of recency bias due to the Tigers just winning the national championship, but he is all in on Reese being the best athlete ever to step foot on the Bayou.

Reese has a chance to cement her legacy even further as she is not eligible for the WNBA draft until 2024. She helped bring LSU its first women’s hoops National Title as a Sophomore, can she do it again next year? Reese and Caitlin Clark lead that star-studded 2024 draft class.

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Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

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Charles Barkley told an absolutely hysterical story about hotel soap that had Shaquille O’Neal in tears

Oh no, Chuck. Oh no.

On a recent episode of The Steam Room with Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson, Barkley told an absolutely hysterical story about his preference to bring his own soap when he travels.

According to Barkley, he prefers a bigger bar of soap when he takes a shower as opposed to using the ones that the hotel provides.

To Chuck, those bars of soap far too small. He said he’s had some close calls with those little hotel soaps. What does that mean?

Well, a very shocked Johnson pressed Barkley a bit on what he was exactly talking about, and let’s just let Chuck fill you in on what the reasoning was.

Once the segment ended, TNT cut back to the Inside the NBA studio, Shaquille O’Neal was in tears and the whole crew was joining him in laughter.

Look, Barkley admitting that he almost … lost more than one bar of soap while he was taking a shower is just too good of a story to pass up sharing. It’s not the most enjoyable mental image, but it’ll get you cry-laughing like Shaq.

If you go out and buy liquid soap after reading this story, we’ll understand.

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Shaquille O’Neal sets the record straight on his departure from the Lakers

Most still think Shaquille O’Neal left the Lakers because of Kobe Bryant, but the Hall of Fame center said it was because of something else.

Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant made up one of the greatest superstar duos in basketball history, and together they led the Los Angeles Lakers to three straight NBA championships from 2000 to 2002.

Although they played eight seasons together and accomplished things very few duos, let alone entire organizations, have ever accomplished, many still think of their Lakers tenure in terms of what they didn’t accomplish. They believe the duo would’ve won several more titles had it remained together.

To this day, many still blame Bryant for O’Neal’s departure from L.A. in 2004, even though it was O’Neal who asked to be traded that summer.

In a recent interview, the legendary center said he didn’t leave because of his so-called feud with Bryant, but for financial reasons (h/t The Sports Rush).

“The reason I got traded, it wasn’t about me and Kobe beef. (It was) because they (the Lakers) wanted me to take less money. I’m not doing that!

I got money, I had money. I just should’ve been like ‘alright, I raise you enough. It’s your team now. I know what I’m going to do. I’m still going to do my 28 (points), and 10 (rebounds)’. But I was like ‘Nah, I want $150 (million).’”

Throughout the 2003-04 campaign, his last with the Lakers, O’Neal was asking for a massive contract extension. However, he suffered a major decline in his production that year, as his body was starting to break down, and he no longer possessed his once-feared explosion.

Dr. Jerry Buss, the then-owner of the Lakers, believed O’Neal’s declining numbers could no longer justify his price tag, and the Hall of Famer was traded to the Miami Heat.

Dr. Buss decided to rebuild around Bryant, which was a very controversial move at the time, but it was the right move. L.A. won two more world titles in 2009 and 2010 with the Black Mamba still in his prime.

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Trio of Boston Celtics land among best-supported stars in title seasons

How willing were the Celtics to spend on their team in the last era of title contention?

NBA analyst Frank Urbina of our sister site Hoops Hype recently put together a comprehensive analysis of how much each team possessing the contract of some of the NBA’s biggest stars over the past three decades was supported by the willingness to spend to surround those stars with the talent needed to compete for titles, with a trio of Boston Celtics making the cut.

Per Urbina, H/H ranked players who debuted after 1990 “based on much their teams spent relative to the league average during their time in the league” given that “it’s a bit harder to win titles when your team’s owner is not spending big bucks” to get the supporting cast such ventures require.

Let’s take a look at where the three Celtics alumni who would qualify as stars in the era they played for Boston (sorry, Shaquille O’Neal, had your health been better, you might have made this list for Boston as well).

Where do former Celtics Larry Bird, Shaquille O’Neal and Bill Russell belong in the GOAT debate?

The trio are regulars in such conversations — this is one such assessment.

With an NBA-record 17 titles to the storied franchise’s name and more Hall of Famers than you can shake a stick at from the over 75 years of history of the ball club, a number of former Boston Celtics regularly make the greatest of all time lists.

More often than not, however, a trio of Boston icons make the list more than others: Celtics short-timer Shaquille O’Neal, the Hick From French Lick (as he was lovingly called) Larry Bird, and the ultimate winner of any sport, Hall of Fame Boston big man Bill Russell.

Such was the case for the folks behind the Maxi NBA YouTube channel. All three perennial Boston stars made an appearance on their most recent “Top 10 NBA players of all time” video.

To see for yourself where the trio of Bird, Shaq and Russell ended up relative to one another and their peers among the league’s luminaries, take a look at the clip embedded above.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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