Shaquille O’Neal isn’t the first person to suggest that the WNBA should lower its rims.
But it was the Hall of Fame center’s reasoning for why he’d like to see it happen that left many scratching their heads.
Late last week, O’Neal appeared on Angel Reese’s Unapologetically Angel podcast. And while the pair of LSU alums covered several topics over the course of their hour-long conversation, the Inside the NBA star’s explanation regarding his desire to see more dunking in women’s basketball is what has since received the most attention.
“Imagine you in those little a** shorts you had on at the Wild ‘n Out show, dunking,” O’Neal said in reference to a viral appearance Reese recently made. “You know how many T-shirts you gonna sell? You trippin’.”
“Oh my god,” a seemingly embarrassed Reese replied.
“What? What?” O’Neal responded. “Those same little a** shorts.”
“OK. Alright, alright, alright, alright,” Reese replied in apparent attempt to get Shaq to stop talking about her “little a** shorts.”
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While O’Neal has been a public supporter and mentor of Reese’s for years, his comment about her attire understandably struck many the wrong way. After all, this is someone he’s likened to a “daughter,” as well as someone who at 22-years-old is less than half his age.
Many on social media were quick to point out that 30-year age gap while responding to the clip, with some users going as far as to label the comments as “creepy.”
Imagine looking up to Shaq growing up, making it to pro and then have him fantasizing about you in “them lil shorts”
Mind you Angel is 22 and Shaq has 6 kids aged 18, 21, 22, 24, 27 & 28 https://t.co/oieouyiPSU
— Rumble Hashira Papo (@saintpapo) October 26, 2024
That shaq video weird asab, he weird asab, he was supposed be a role model somebody she look up to, like a mentor/uncle type figure, an this nut going say imagine you had on them booty shorts playing ball??? Like huh??
— Jon B (@bfletch__) October 27, 2024
Shaq is 52 years old and has gotten a free pass for being creepy because he’s an nba legend . Angel Reese looks at Shaq like a father figure mentor type and he’s taking about her in booty shorts lmao https://t.co/MHB0Jw1d28
— John (@iam_johnw) October 26, 2024
While O’Neal’s larger point may have been that “sex sells” — which would have been controversial in its own right given the context of the conversation — the reality is that there’s a reason why his comments rubbed so many the wrong way. And that seemingly included Reese, who was visibly uncomfortable as soon as Shaq referenced her shorts and did her best to move to conversation forward as quickly as possible.