Former NBA champion calls out Shaquille O'Neal & Charles Barkley for sleeping on Knicks as NBA Finals contender

While speaking with Michael Kay on his show, current ESPN analyst and former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins called out Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley for allegedly dismissing the New York Knicks' chances of winning the title.

Perkins was prompted to speak out against the duo of big men turned analysts after Kay asked him why they weren't sold on Jalen Brunson and the team. The former Boston Celtics champion had a simple reason for why neither of them believe in the Knicks.

"It's obviously [because] they don't watch basketball," Perkins said. "I'm serious, they can't watch basketball on a consistent basis. The only time that they actually probably watch the Knicks are when they're covering the Knicks on their game night.

"So if you're watching the New York Knicks, there's no way in hell that you could just downplay the way that they've been playing the game of basketball," Perkins continued. "If you're watching the New York Knicks, there's no way in hell that you could downplay that Jalen Brunson has been the best player in the Eastern Conference." [5:41-6:14]

Despite losing Julius Randle near the end of January to a shoulder injury, the Knicks secured the second seed against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference.

Currently, fans are waiting to see which team between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat will challenge the Knicks in the opening round of this year's playoffs.

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Shaquille O'Neal thinks the Orlando Magic can beat the New York Knicks in a seven-game series

Had the playoffs begun on Apr. 2, the Orlando Magic and the New York Knicks would have faced each other in the opening round of the playoffs as the fourth and fifth seeds respectively.

That same day, the NBA on TNT crew, including Shaquille O'Neal, talked about the matchups that could happen in the playoffs and Adam Lefkoe said an Orlando-New York matchup could potentially be the most enjoyable one. Shaq immediately disagreed, responding that if those two teams faced each other, the Magic would undoubtedly sweep the Knicks.

To Shaquille O'Neal's credit, the New York Knicks could only beat the Orlando Magic once in four games throughout the 2023-24 regular season. However, the NBA landscape shifts very quickly and the Knicks are now the second seed in the East while the Magic remain the fifth seed.

The Magic will be facing off against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the opening round while the Knicks will need to wait and see who'll challenge them for a spot in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.