Shaquille O’Neal recently earned his PhD and it seems he is putting his new found knowledge by 
making a smart choice and is picking the San Antonio Spurs to make this year’s NBA Finals along with the Miami Heat.
“Like a lot of people, Miami and the [San Antonio] Spurs. I think it’ll be either the Spurs or the Lakers. L.A. is the only team that matches up with the Spurs.”
OK so maybe “Dr. Shaq” may need a refresher but hope he realizes the Spurs won the regular season series with the Lakers (2-1) including thoroughly beating LA in the final two meetings despite the Lakers’ size advantage.
But if you are wondering why Shaq likes the Spurs in the Finals over other powerhouse teams in the West, namely the Thunder, he points to head coach Gregg Popovich and his former rival Tim Duncan who he feels has some more gas left in his tank.
“OKC has good players, but they only know one way to play now. The Spurs know how to do it, they have the greatest leader [Coach Gregg Popovich] in the world. They’re on a mission. And I think Tim Duncan, the way he’s playing now, has two years left.”
As the Spurs have shown in the playoffs and regular season, this team has depth. Popovich has the players if the team needs to go small, can play a half-court game, run-and-gun if they need to. As for Duncan, he has been playing great since the beginning of the season and continues to wreck havoc on the court in the playoffs as the Utah Jazz can testify.
I’d say newly minted Doctor Shaq’s choice of San Antonio heading to the Finals, and foreseeing TD playing a bit longer is a smart proclamation wouldn’t you agree Spurs fans?
