Shaquille O'Neal Says Caitlin Clark Must 'Wait Her Turn' For Props
Basketball icon Shaquille O'Neal has become one of the most prominent sports media pundits in the world. While Shaq's expertise and interest is centered on the NBA, he's also a huge fan of the WNBA and has made his feelings clear about the league's continued growth and development.
Shaq is a big fan and mentor of Chicago Sky rookie and fellow LSU alumni Angel Reese. While this initially made him hesitant to embrace Fever rookie Caitlin Clark's greatness (or at least admit it publicly), he recently experienced a change of heart and gave the former Iowa Hawkeye her well-deserved flowers.
Last week, Shaq's longtime colleague Charles Barkley called out other WNBA players for having "petty jealousness" toward Clark during an episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast.
This prompted Shaq to clarify Barkley's words (and dismiss some of what he said) in a recent discussion on USA Today Sports' 'Sports Seriously' show.
“There’s envious jealousy, there’s professional jealousy,” O’Neal said of Barkley's comments in the interview. “Sure there’s a lot of people who are professionally jealous. I am. I’m professionally jealous of a lot of people. I’m professionally jealous of Steph (Curry), he makes $60 million. But hey, that’s life.
“You gotta also understand that we’re not just going to give it to you because everybody else is giving it to you,” O’Neal continued. “You still gotta earn it. Chuck had to go through that, I had to go through that, so I understand what everybody’s doing. Yeah you’re great, but you ain’t that great yet. Calm down. We still got Diana Taurasi, we still got A’ja Wilson, if you’re gonna give (Caitlin) props make sure our girls that are dominating in this league get the same props.”
Shaq seems to be speaking toward the WNBA's new fanbase; many of whom are now watching the league as a result of Clark, and may not be so familiar with the sport's more established stars. And this could perhaps rub some of these stars the wrong way.
“Loudmouths like Chuck are talking about hating — it’s not hating,” Shaq added. “It’s like, you’re good but let’s slow it down a notch. As good as Caitlin Clark is, we’ve had a lot of young ladies who have been doing good (before) and not getting props. People like props and they want to feel good when you’re talking about (their league)... it’s not hating. Everybody has to wait their turn.”
Shaq on Caitlin Clark:
— Ashwin (@Sudharsan_ak) September 11, 2024
"Yeah you're great, but you ain't that great yet, we still got DT, A'ja Wilson. If you're gonna give her props, make sure our girls that are dominating in this league get the same props"
Why is he like it's all praise and never hate for CC?😶#WNBA pic.twitter.com/6nDIUmtcna
Shaq always brings a lot of wisdom when speaking about nuanced matters such as these.
GRANT YOUNG
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.