Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Shaquille O’Neal Challenges Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Mentality After Thunder’s Game 1 NBA Finals Loss

Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The NBA Finals is underway and by now, if you’re an NBA fan, you must know that Indiana Pacers’ guard, Tyrese Haliburton, hit yet another game winning shot this postseason, and help his team steal Game 1 from arguably the best team in the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder gave up a 15-point lead in the final nine minutes of the fourth quarter, which reminded us about Pacers’ Game 1 win against the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals this season. The Pacers have reminded everyone in the NBA, that they have the ability to win a playoff series and it does not matter if the opposing team has the best defense in the NBA, regular season MVP, former coach of the year, they simply do not care.

Just like the Knicks series, the Pacers are once again the underdogs in this series but that does not mean anything to this team. Meanwhile, the Thunder blew a nine-point lead late in the fourth quarter, and they had no else to blame but themselves. The Pacers’ entire roster was having a less than ideal night, and this was actually supposed to be a blowout victory for the Thunder. However, the Pacers kept chipping away and eventually took the lead in the final seconds.

OVERRATE THAT.

Tyrese Haliburton has hit FOUR game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final 5 seconds of a game in these playoffs 😳 pic.twitter.com/VkLFGHFm30
— ESPN (@espn) June 6, 2025

Shaq Calls Out SGA’s Mental Toughness Post-Game 1

After the heartbreaking Game 1 loss for the Thunder, in the post-game interview, when Shai Gilgeous Alexander was asked about how the Thunder plan to make a comeback in the series after going down 0-1, SGA said, “We just gotta treat it like every other game. Every other situation we’ve been in… Doesn’t mean we have to change. It’s still basketball, the game that we grew up playing… We’ve been in this situation before and other situation. We handled it well, we came back better for Game 2 and that’s the goal.”

Shaquille O’Neal, aka Shaq, is one of the greatest players ever to play in the NBA, and he did not appreciate SGA’s mentality headed into Game 2. “It’s not just another game… I understand it’s your first time here… You don’t win? There’s a chance you don’t get back. I was fortunate enough to go back 6 times but this is not another game.”

While Shaq can be extremely critical and harsh on some of the younger players today, he did win four championships in his NBA career and knows how hard it is to just get back to the NBA finals, let alone with it all. The Thunder are an elite team, but teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Lakers, Clippers, Timberwolves, are only going to get better, and one can never know if they’ll get back to the NBA Finals ever again. So despite the mentality, the Thunder and SGA need to treat Game 2 like it’s a win-or-go-home situation, because it is extremely hard to win even a single game at Indiana, where the Pacers’ entire roster has a tendency to explode.

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NBA Finals 2025

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Indiana Pacers

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Shaquille O’Neal

Eric Divakaran

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I cover the National Football League and things cannot get better than that. I always dreamed to play football or basketball professionally since I’m built like a Running Back. But now that I can’t, since I’m technically in the “Unc” age, I thought why not pick a career in sports industry? So here I am, doing what I love, and hoping that the Commanders win the Super Bowl. I give love to players when it’s due, but can be critical about their performances at the same time. Enough about me, now let my articles do all the talking.