Shaquille O'Neal Drops Steph Curry Comparison for Fever Star Caitlin Clark

Indiana Fever and former Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark received heavy praise from Shaquille O'Neal.

Jun 30, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) celebrates against the Phoenix Mercury during a WNBA game at Footprint Center. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Indiana Fever star rookie Caitlin Clark has been taking the WNBA by storm during her first season. After being the biggest women's college basketball superstar of all-time with the Iowa Hawkeyes, she has completely changed the viewership and outlook for the WNBA as well.

While she has been putting together a stellar rookie season that should lead to a Rookie of the Year award, Clark has been receiving a lot of backlash.

Many different media personalities and a ton of players have had nothing but negative things to say. They have tried to minimize what Clark has done for women's basketball and have tried to discredit the success she is having with the Fever.

During the 2024 WNBA season so far, Clark has played in 36 games. She has averaged 19.2 points, 8.5 assists, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game. Clark is shooting 42.3 percent from the floor and 34.7 percent from three-point range.

Not only is she putting up big-time numbers on the court, she has also helped lead Indiana to the WNBA Playoffs.

Amid her impressive run late in the season where her numbers have been taken to another level, NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal has spoken out with major praise for Clark. He even dropped a Steph Curry comparison in one aspect of her game.

“When I see stuff on TV I’m like, OK, I’d like to see it in person. Well, I saw it in person. She can play … from a basketball standpoint, she makes all the right plays, gets everybody involved and she has that Steph Curry (shooting) range.” 

O'Neal also took some time to address the Clark vs. Angel Reese debate. He doesn't see that dying down anytime soon.

“What makes it good for the game is it’ll be those two forever. You can make little games of it. In college, Angel’s up one (cause of winning a national championship). Now you can say, OK Caitlin’s in the playoffs, is Angel going to make the playoffs? Little games that you can play that keep their names going. I’m happy for both of them, I’m happy for women’s sports.''

Receiving this kind of praise from a legend like Shaq shows just how impactful Clark has been. Her rivalry with Reese has been annoying due to the fan divide, but is pure entertainment on the court.

All of that being said, it will be interesting to see what Clark is able to during the playoffs. If the Fever are going to have a chance to advance past the first round, she will need to put up monster numbers.