Shaquille O’Neal Sounds Off on Villanova Knicks: ‘Built on Hype’

After the New York Knicks came close to reaching the NBA Eastern Conference finals despite having an injury-depleted roster, they made an all-in move this offseason by trading for Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges to reunite him with his Villanova teammates.

Bridges is reunited with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo. They were the national champions at Villanova in 2016 and won again in 2018 minus Hart, who jumped to the NBA a year earlier.

While the Knicks front office believes they are now closer to a championship after the Bridges trade and re-signing OG Anunoby, TNT’s “Inside the NBA” analyst Shaquille O’Neal, a four-time NBA champ, thinks the opposite.

“You know what it is? New York is a place that’s built on hype. That controls the hype,” O’Neal said on “The Big Podcast” on July 27. “They can hype everybody else up. They haven’t won [expletive] but ‘Oohh, New York, New York.’ So [Brunson] can play. I was wrong about him. He’s impressive. But they’re nowhere close to winning a championship. They’re gonna win some games and do this, but I’m more impressed with — at the end of your career — how many championships you won.”

The Knicks were the second seed in the East last season, winning 50 games for the first time since 2013. They did this despite losing two-time All-NBA Julius Randle (shoulder) in late January and missing Mitchell Robinson (ankle) for 50 games. Anunoby was also in and out of the Knicks lineup with an elbow injury.

Behind the troika of Brunson, Hart and DiVincenzo, the Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round and led 2-1 and 3-2 against the Indiana Pacers in the second round until they lost steam with another set of injuries.

All-in Trade for Mikal Bridges

The Knicks went all-in on completing their Villanova quartet, overpaying for Bridges, who has never been an All-Star. But he was once an All-NBA Defensive First Team member (2022) and a vital cog of the Phoenix Suns team that reached the NBA Finals in 2021.

New York gave up four unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031), a protected 2025 first-round pick (via Milwaukee Bucks), an unprotected 2028 pick swap and a 2025 second-round pick to acquire Bridges, who is coming off a down year in Brooklyn in his first full season with the Nets since he arrived in the Kevin Durant trade.

Bridges averaged 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 43.6% from the field and 37.2% from the three-point range in 82 games.

Mikal Bridges Trade Voted Offseason’s Most Surprising Move

The Bridges trade received five votes as the most surprising move of the offseason in an ESPN poll with league executives and scouts.

“It was an incredible deal for both sides,” a West scout told ESPN.

It was the Knicks and Nets’ first trade since 1983. While that factored into the Knicks having to overpay for Bridges, the Utah Jazz, who own more draft capital than the Knicks, were also heavily pursuing the former Nets star ahead of the NBA Draft, per Tony Jones of The Athletic.

In the same ESPN poll, the Knicks also received two votes for the Bridges trade as the worst move of the offseason behind only the 76ers offering a 34-year-old Paul George a max deal and the DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade between the Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings, who each received three votes.

Did the Knicks make the right move?

Only time will tell.