"Out of all the legends, I probably got swept the most" - Shaquille O'Neal believes the Brooklyn Nets have no excuses for getting swept by the Boston Celtics
Shaquille O'Neal believes that among the NBA legends, he has been swept in the playoffs the most. Shaq shared the sentiment on "Inside the NBA" on TNT after the Boston Celtics swept the Brooklyn Nets in their first-round matchup.
O'Neal and the TNT crew discussed the Celtics' 116-112 win over the Nets on Monday night. The Celtics moved into the Eastern Conference semifinals, while Brooklyn heads into the offseason earlier than expected. The Nets were the favorites to win it all at the start of the season.
The Brooklyn Nets have been eliminated from the NBA Playoffs. https://t.co/n1MneVWLnN
As O'Neal gave his opinion on the Nets, he told the story of how he used getting swept in the postseason as motivation. Shaq believes he owns the record for most times a player got swept in the playoffs.
"The feeling has to be in sync," O'Neal said. "One, you got to play together, you got to know each other. Two, you got to be healthy. ... When you are a superstar, nobody cares about the excuses. When you're a superstar and you're a big-name superstar, they expect you to win.
"Out of all the legends, I probably got swept the most. So what that should tell you is, that when you get swept is, you're not that good."
The Nets were the only team that got swept in the first round of this season's playoffs. It was the first sweep in Kevin Durant's career. And for the first time in 17 years, the second round of the postseason will not have Durant or LeBron James. The league is truly entering a new era, with guys like Jayston Tatum, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid as the new faces of the league.
How many times did Shaquille O'Neal get swept in the playoffs?
As mentioned by Shaquille O'Neal on "Inside the NBA," he believes he's suffered the most sweeps in the playoffs among the game's legends. But how many times did Shaq get swept during his career?
According to HoopsHype, O'Neal is tied with Pau Gasol for the most postseason sweeps in NBA history with six. The four-time NBA champion was swept five times before winning his first title in 2000. Shaq was swept in his first playoff appearance in 1994 for the Orlando Magic against the Indiana Pacers.
Only seven players have been swept five-plus times in NBA playoffs history.
Only two have been swept six times: Shaquille O'Neal and fellow Laker legend Pau Gasol.
Now you know that.
Bouncing back in 1995, Shaquille O'Neal and the Magic made it to the NBA Finals. However, they were swept by the Houston Rockets. The next two sweeps happened in 1996 and 1998 in the conference finals against the Chicago Bulls (with the Magic) and Utah Jazz (with the LA Lakers).
The San Antonio Spurs swept Shaq and the Lakers in the 1999 Western Conference semifinals. The last time O'Neal got swept was in 2007, when the Chicago Bulls beat the defending champion Miami Heat in the first round.