Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett looked back on their shared tenure with the Boston Celtics on their podcast’s latest episode. More specifically, they discussed Shaquille O’Neal‘s stint with the team in the 2010-11 season, the last year of Shaq’s career. Pierce believes that the Celtics could have beaten the LeBron James-led Miami Heat with O’Neal if he stayed healthy.
(Starts at 2:38)
“I am telling you, if we had him healthy, I think we would have won it that year. We got off to a great start before Diesel got hurt… We beat Miami, with LeBron, yeah he was rolling… We were 23 and 4 before Diesel got hurt.”
Shaq was averaging 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in the 37 games he played with the Celtics. In that time, the team went 29-8, showing that they were one of the strongest teams in the NBA. They were 19-3 in games Shaq played over 20 minutes. Given the Heat struggled to adjust to each other at the start of that season, they didn’t clinch the one seed in the East as convincingly as many assume.
The Celtics ended the 2010-11 regular season with 56 wins, while the Heat finished with 58 wins. The team ended up meeting in the second round of the playoffs, where James finally got to beat the Celtics in the playoffs with a 4-1 series win. O’Neal had been unable to contribute in the playoffs due to his bothersome Achilles injury, something he even tried playing with after getting shots to numb the pain.
With O’Neal, the Celtics could’ve possibly put up a better fight. The team had traded away Kendrick Perkins with the hope that Shaq would be their center that year, a big misstep by the organization. It was possibly their last chance to win the title, as the Heat became too strong to beat after losing the 2011 Finals. Whether the Celtics would’ve beaten the Dallas Mavericks is another discussion, but they surely would have had a shot if they could surpass the Heat that year.
Shaquille O’Neal Was Ring-Chasing During His Celtics Stint
When Shaq made his way over to Boston for the 2010-11 season, he made his intentions to win a fifth ring clear with an example about Tim Duncan having five rings and Shaq not wanting anyone to think Duncan is greater than him.
“I don’t compete with little guards. I don’t compete with little guys who run around dominating the ball, throwing up 30 shots a night — like D-Wade, Kobe. Now if Tim Duncan said it, I’d be pissed. He’s the only guy I’m competing with. If Tim Duncan gets five rings, then that gives some writer the chance to say, ‘Duncan is the best,’ and I can’t have that.”
Unfortunately, this clear ring-chasing attempt caused the Celtics to make rotational changes with the hope that Shaq would fill that role. O’Neal would later open up about his ring-chasing intentions that season, wanting to equal Kobe Bryant’s five championships.
“When I signed with Boston, I was chasing that fifth ring to catch up with Kobe, but I was also chasing points to catch up with Wilt… but because I didn’t pass him, I have to allow people to still say his name.”
The Celtics are still waiting for another championship 15 years after the 2008 triumph. O’Neal hoped to deliver them a ring in 2011, but it wasn’t meant to be.
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