Shaquille O’Neal (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

The 2024 NBA Playoffs are in full swing, with surprising results in most games. The NBA officials, however, have received a lot of criticism for their performance in these playoffs. Shaquille O’Neal has come to their defense and blamed the league instead for making the situation worse for the officials.

On Tuesday night, TNT’s Inside the NBA crew, including Shaquille O’Neal, had a detailed discussion about the officials and how the league handles them. The discussion focused on the “last two-minute report” that the NBA releases following the conclusion of a game. This report covers everything that happened in the final two minutes of the game, and recently, it has pointed out the crucial mistakes made by the referees in a game.

The errors made by the NBA officials during Monday’s Knicks vs. Sixers game serve as the best illustration of this. Shaq spoke on the very same matter, criticizing the league for releasing such a report. “My question is… you admit it now, but what the f*** does that do for Philadelphia?” asked Shaq.

He highlighted that the last two-minute report does more harm to the referees and the players than good. He argued that the officials receive more heat from the fans because of the report, and as for the players, the report leaves them with afterthoughts about the game.

Shaquille O’Neal believes the OKC Thunder will make Western Conference finals

NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal recently revealed his predictions on the future of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The OKC are going strong in their playoff series, winning two of the four games against the New Orleans Pelicans. Diesel was amazed by their performance, and he expressed his thoughts on TNT’s Inside the NBA.

“The way they play, I think they are going to be in the Western Conference finals,” said Shaq. The Hall of Famer predicted that the OKC would make its way to the Western Conference finals. Shaq’s co-host, Charles Barkley, did not agree with him on his prediction. “Let us not put them in the conference finals yet. We do not know who is going to win that series,” said Barkley, disagreeing with Shaq.