NBA: Finals-Indiana Pacers at Oklahoma City Thunder
Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
Shaquille O’Neal, a prominent NBA ambassador and analyst, declared he will not be watching the remainder of the 2025 NBA Finals.
It’s comments like these that have to dismay Commissioner Adam Silver, when a Hall of Fame legend of basketball is already mentally checked out of the series.
Oddly enough, O’Neal admitted that with the Indiana Pacers stealing game one and the Oklahoma City Thunder roaring back in game two, we now have a series.
No matter, Shaq will be in the Bahamas and apparently doesn’t give a rip about who wins.
“Indiana stole one. I’m just glad it’s not the old format, that 2-3-2. Remember that format? That 2-3-2? So now we have a series,” O’Neal said in an appearance on NBA TV.
“I won’t even be watching,” he added. “I’m gonna be in the Bahamas.”
"Now we have a series. I won’t even be watching…I’m gonna be in the Bahamas." – Shaq reacts to OKC beating the Pacers in Game 2 pic.twitter.com/gVdbLlsXIE
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 9, 2025
Shaq has no Interest in the NBA Finals
In case Shaq wasn’t clear about being checked out of the NBA Finals, he slapped down any suggestions he’d be able to watch the games from the middle of the ocean and suggested the cup in his hand had a little juice in it.
“This ain’t water,” he said, taking a sip and then shaking the ice in his cup.
To be fair, O’Neal was not scheduled to cover the games beyond 1 and 2. His former NBA on TNT partner, Charles Barkley, will join the show for Games 3 and 4.
Still, his comments reflect a surprising detachment from the Finals, despite his long-standing involvement in NBA media.
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Not the only One Who has Lost Interest
There were a ton of concerns for the NBA Finals coming into the series, with two small-market franchises having relatively small fan bases making an appearance.
The ratings bear out those concerns. The Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder have thus far provided historically low television ratings.
Game 1 averaged a 4.7 rating and 8.91 million viewers on ABC, marking the least-watched Finals opener since Nielsen tracking began in 1988, excluding the COVID-affected years of 2020 and 2021. This represents an 18% decline in ratings and a 19% drop in viewership compared to the 2024 Finals opener between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks.
It’s unlikely that a blowout in Game 2 will see much improvement.
Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who helped guide his team to a championship in last year’s NBA Finals, said earlier this season that he’d rather do just about anything else than watch basketball.
“I add to that, I don’t watch NBA games. I’m just as much of a problem as everyone else,” he admitted, adding he’d “rather watch something else.”
Is it any wonder the league’s ratings are tanking? Why would casual fans want to watch a product that some of the best in the business don’t even want to watch?
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