The excitement of seeing them defeat the Houston Rockets — the second-best team in the Western Conference during the 2024–25 NBA regular season — led Shaquille O’Neal to pick the Warriors as his favorite to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves. So it’s no surprise that he also spoke up about their elimination, sending a message to Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler.

O’Neal laid out his reasoning on the show NBA on TNT, saying that the Golden State Warriors had just won a series without seeing Curry at his best, which is why he considered them his pick to win the Playoff semifinals. However, he didn’t anticipate the level of defense Minnesota would bring against ‘The Chef.’ The reason?

Stephen Curry was injured in the second quarter of Game 1 and wasn’t able to return for the rest of the series against the Timberwolves. Anthony Edwards and company eliminated the Warriors in five games, leaving behind the big question: would the result have been the same if the star point guard hadn’t gotten injured?

“I think a Warriors victory was possible because the way everyone defended Stephen Curry in the Playoffs made things very easy,” said Kenny Smith, a two-time NBA champion. “The overall extension of denial — meaning, ‘I don’t care where the ball is, I’m just going to stay with Steph’ — allowed everyone else to operate more freely. That’s an unusual type of defense.”

Shaquille O’Neal’s response and message to Curry and Butler after the Warriors’ elimination was soon to follow

O’Neal, Curry, and Jimmy Butler. (Photo: Getty Images)

Despite how tough the Golden State Warriors’ elimination in the 2025 NBA Playoff semifinals was, O’Neal sent the following message to Curry, Butler, and company:
“Steph is the only dynamic player who can dominate a game. Now that he’s been his old ‘Steph’ self in these Playoffs, Houston used this tricky defense where he had to play like a regular player. But to answer Ernie’s (Johnson) question — if he’s healthy, he can give you one of those 30–40–50-point games, and that can change a series. So, to answer your question, I think that if he were healthy, they definitely could have won this series.”

The Three Players Most Likely to Leave the Golden State Warriors

Now that the elimination is official, the Warriors are already thinking about building a team around Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler, who are all under contract for two more years. With that in mind, Gary Payton II, Kevon Looney, and Jonathan Kuminga are the three players most likely to leave Golden State — the first two are set to become free agents, and Kuminga will become a restricted free agent.