On an episode of the “Unapologetically Angel” podcast, Shaquille O’Neal suggested that Angel Reese and other WNBA stars dunk in “little shorts.”
Social media users are calling out NBA veteran Shaquille O’Neal for some awkward comments he made about Angel Reese. In a recent episode of Reese’s “Unapologetically Angel” podcast, O’Neal and the Chicago Sky forward discussed the disparities between the women’s and men’s national basketball associations.
While Reese flagged the discrepancies in viewership and wages, O’Neal shared his controversial “solution” for the matter: to lower the rim so that more women in the WNBA can dunk.
“A pretty girl dunking on the rim, I’m watching that all the time,” O’Neal shared. “You dunking…trust me, it will change…it’s about seeing stuff you’re not supposed to see.”
Confessing that she hates when men offer these types of suggestions to the discourse, Reese pushed back on O’Neal’s commentary, noting that there are women in the WNBA who can dunk at the rim’s current height. Though the retired athlete clarified his statement explaining that viewers enjoy seeing things they’ve never seen before, the conversation took an uncomfortable turn when O’Neal made a comment about Angel Reese’s physical appearance.
“If you listen to my method, your dream will definitely come through lower that rim…to where it gives y’all the ability to dunk. Imagine you in the same little shorts you had on at the ‘Wild ‘N Out’ show, dunking,” he continued, referring to the shorts Reese wore during an appearance at the Wild ‘N Out Live Tour’s Chicago stop earlier this month. “You know how many T-shirts you’re gonna sell?”
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Rolling her eyes and seemingly getting uncomfortable, Reese laughed awkwardly as O’Neal continued to talk about how a change a uniform would boost sales and revenue for the WNBA.
“You’re not beautiful [or] good-looking, you are gorgeous. There’s a lot of gorgeous women in the WNBA … Sometimes when people first see y’all, they see y’all for what y’all do; they don’t know how f***ing beautiful y’all are,” he added. “Men are watching the games, and we like what we like. [Combine that] with seeing y’all dunking, your money’s going to go up tremendously.”
Just as Reese appeared to be physically uncomfortable with O’Neal’s uncensored comments, social media users were equally bothered by his statements.
“Shaq is 52 years old. Angel Reese is 22 years old. U can tell Angel feels betrayed. She thought Shaq was gonna be more like family [and is] realizing he just another lonely perv. F**kin disgusting,” one user wrote on X.
Others called out how disturbing it was for O’Neal to be “sexualizing Angel Reese when he’s 30 years her senior and has kids older than her.”
O’Neal’s comments were particularly off-putting, considering that Reese once described O’Neal as a “father figure” when describing their mentor-mentee relationship. Having both attended LSU before entering the professional basketball league’s draft, the retired athlete was an “understandable ear” to Reese when the 2024 WNBA Draft.
“He’s super inspiring to me,” Reese told USA Today. “He’s so genuine, he’s been there for me through tough times. He just gets it, and there’s not a more perfect person for me to be tight with…He doesn’t care about me as a player, he cares about me as a person.”
Similarly, O’Neal once echoed these sentiments when explaining their unique bond.
“I know things that she went through,” he said, as previously reported by theGrio. “I know what she’s going through, I know what’s about to happen to her, and I could give her advice.”
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