Shaquille O'Neal Has Controversial 'Solution' To Improve Women's Basketball
For better or worse, former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal had an awful lot to say while on Angel Reese's podcast this week.
O'Neal has been very close with Reese since her days at LSU. Their connection is a big reason why the WNBA All-Star signed an NIL deal with Reebok. When the company first signed her, Shaq said, "There is no one making a bigger impact on the game right now than Angel Reese."
Even though O'Neal supports Reese on and off the court, he admit on "Unapologetically Angel" that he believes the WNBA should make a few tweaks to its overall structure.
Shaq claims women's basketball would benefit from lowering the rims. He thinks fans would like to see female players dunk the basketball.
"In women's beach volleyball, let's just say the net is 10; for women, it's lower just a little bit," O'Neal said. "I'm not saying lower it to 9-5, 9-7, but just 9-9. Listen, that's the only difference. We got shooters. Y'all got shooters. Oh, guys got some handles. Girls got some handles. Oh, we got this. We got that. Oh, we got [expletive] talkers. Oh, we got brawls. Only thing that's missing is the dunk."
Reese disagreed with this take from O'Neal, claiming that certain changes are never good enough for women's sports.
"People always disrespect women regardless," she said. "There's always not gonna give us the same value as a man."
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 23: Shaquille O'Neal looks on during the third quarter in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center on May 23, 2023 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
O'Neal has received a lot of criticism on social media for this suggestion. Some are calling it a "sexist" request from the Hall of Famer.
To make matters worse, O'Neal said something way more offensive later in the podcast. He suggested that Reese should play basketball in a cheeky pair of shorts.
"Imagine you're in those same little shorts you had at the Wild 'n Out show dunking," O'Neal said. "You know how many tee shirts you would sell. You're tripping."
Next time Shaq appears on a popular podcast, he may want to think twice before he fires off certain comments.
