Shaquille O'Neal Uses Caitlin Clark as Case for Lowering WNBA Rims to Angel Reese
Shaquille O'Neal was the most recent guest of the "Unapologetically Angel" show, which is hosted by Chicago Sky superstar Angel Reese.
The episode, which aired on Thursday, featured the two basketball icons (who have an excellent relationship with each other) discussing a controversial topic that Shaq has been criticized for in the past: his desire for the WNBA to lower its rims.
Shaq has caught a lot of flack for (repeatedly) making this suggestion because many fans feel like lowering rims is demeaning to women's basketball players.
However, that didn't Shaq from broaching the subject with Reese on Thursday. And he tried to back up his point by referencing the novel greatness of Caitlin Clark.
"A pretty girl dunking on the rim? I'm watching that all day," Shaq said to Reese, who laughed out loud.
When Reese refuted that take, Shaq added, "It's about seeing stuff you ain't supposed to see... Why you think people love Caitlin Clark? Besides her skills?"
"She can shoot threes from logo," Reese responded.
"We never seen that before. That's my point," Shaq said. "She's doing stuff we've never seen before. [I've] never seen nobody [shoot logo threes] on a consistent basis. There's a lot of girls in the WNBA that have done it in spurts, but that game I'm watching y'all in the Final Four, I'm like 'Damn.'
"And I was a hater, cause you know I'm down with you, like, 'She's not gonna hit that shot.' And then, bam, she hits the shot," Shaq continued of Clark.
"So I'm telling you, if you just lower it like this," Shaq then said of lowering the WNBA rim while gesturing with his fingers being about an inch apart.
Shaq used Caitlin Clark as an example for why the #WNBA should lower its rims on @angelreeseshow pic.twitter.com/vHn6ctpc4N
— Grant Young (@GrvntYoung) October 24, 2024
To be clear, Shaq isn't suggesting that the WNBA should lower its rims for Caitlin Clark specifically, or that Clark needs to be dunking. He seems to be saying that WNBA players being able to dunk (due to lowered rims) would add a similar sort of novelty to the women's game that Clark has brought to the sport with her sharpshooting ability, which would increase interest and engagement.
We can always count on Shaq to stir the pot.
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.