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“Winning Is Boring” for Klay Thompson, Claims Shaquille O’Neal Unraveling Warriors Star’s Mental Agony

Published 04/10/2024, 8:25 PM EDT

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What is the motivation for Klay Thompson after bringing four championships to the Dub Nation? The 34-year-old Golden State Warrior is aware that he is in the final phase of his career, with perhaps a few more seasons left in the bag. So he wants to contribute to his team in every way possible before his career comes to an end at San Francisco. While this is alarming for many, Shaquille O’Neal believes this could be a reason why Thompson will be dangerous in the playoffs. The clock is ticking for the Splash Brother, and Shaq believes Thompson might pop off, all of a sudden soon. 

Ahead of the playoffs, Shaq released a special episode on The Big Podcast, in which he threw light into Thompson’s mindset, “When you don’t have the championship you fight for it. When you get the first one, ‘Oh that was luck’. Then you get the second one, ‘Can’t do it again’, then you get the third one, then you get traded, then you get the fourth one. Like when is it enough?”

Shaq believes Thompson has nothing else to prove. He said, “Winning is boring”. But the fact that Thompson is still here after all the achievements is a reason why Shaq finds the 4x champion to be dangerous. 

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Shaq’s prediction does not stop here. He believes the Warriors are capable of proving the entire nation wrong.

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What does Shaquille O’Neal think about the Warriors’ potential in the playoffs?

For starters, the 7ft giant is sure that the Warriors can beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the play-in tournament. If the Warriors clinch the 8th seed by doing so, they will have to face either the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are a few of the toughest teams to crack in the league right now. Anyhow, Shaq believes Stephen Curry and Co. can beat them. The Dub Nation is a different team in the postseason. Like Shaq said, their playoff experience cannot be doubted. 

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The Warriors upset the 3rd seed Sacramento Kings last year in a game 7 battle. Although they lost to the Lakers in the Conference Semi-Finals, they have redeemed it this season with a 3-1 record against LeBron James and Co. in the regular season. The Warriors and the Lakers are likely to match again in the play-in. Let’s see if Shaq’s prediction turns out to be true. 

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Written by:

Rohan Dharmalingam

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Rohan Dharmalingam is an NBA beat writer at EssentiallySports, who extensively covers the Lakers. Be it a multimillion dollar deal breaking or a classic throwback, Rohan has covered the many themes and formats. Most notably, his coverage received a shoutout from the Purple & Gold icon Shaquille O'Neal and the rap legend 50 Cent, on Instagram.
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Edited by:

Jayant Chhabra