The Oklahoma City Thunder are favorites to repeat as NBA champions in 2026, but they aren’t getting much love from Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley. With the playoffs finally starting on Saturday, the Inside the NBA crew was asked to make their predictions for who gets to the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals, and neither O’Neal nor Barkley had the 64-18 Thunder as one of the last two teams standing.
Shaquille O’Neal
Eastern Conference Finals: Detroit Pistons vs. New York Knicks
Western Conference Finals: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs
NBA Finals: San Antonio Spurs vs. New York Knicks
O’Neal has the third-seeded New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row, where they take on the conference’s No. 1 seed, the Detroit Pistons. The Knicks had lost to the Indiana Pacers in the Conference Finals last year, and the Hall of Famer is backing them to go a step further this time around. They last made it to the biggest stage all the way back in 1999.
As for the other side of the bracket, O’Neal has the top two seeds in the West facing off in the Conference Finals. He thinks the No. 1 seed will lose again, as he is picking the San Antonio Spurs to come out on top. Now, the Thunder had looked invincible against almost everyone this season, except the Spurs. They lost that season series 4-1. It would still be a bit of a surprise if the Thunder lose, but it wouldn’t be a shocker.
O’Neal’s Finals matchup is actually a repeat of 1999. The Spurs won in five games back then.
Charles Barkley
Eastern Conference Finals: Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
Western Conference Finals: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Denver Nuggets
NBA Finals: Denver Nuggets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
As for Barkley’s picks in the East, they were completely different from O’Neal’s. He has the second-seeded Boston Celtics taking on the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers certainly are a surprising pick, as not many would be fancying their chances of making that deep a run. Barkley, though, even has them upsetting the Celtics and getting to the NBA Finals.
Like O’Neal, Barkley has the Thunder getting to the Western Conference Finals and losing. He doesn’t have them facing the Spurs, though, and is backing the third-seeded Denver Nuggets instead. We saw an epic seven-game series in the Conference Semifinals last year between these teams, with the Thunder coming out on top. They went 3-1 against the Nuggets this season and would be the favorites, but Barkley has gone for the upset.
As for the other two members of the crew, Kenny Smith had the same Conference Finals matchups as O’Neal. He has the Spurs getting out of the West, too, but is backing the Pistons to beat the Knicks.
Ernie Johnson, meanwhile, had the same Conference Finals matchups as Barkley. Johnson, too, had just one change in the Finals matchup, as he has gone with the Celtics and the Nuggets.
So, that means none of the four members had the Thunder getting to the Finals, which is quite bizarre.
