Shaquille O’Neal could not stop gushing over his love for Caitlin Clark while sitting beside arguably her biggest rival, Angel Reese, on her podcast this week.
O’Neal admitted he was at first a Clark ‘hater’ because of his ‘love’ for Reese, but now has a clear admiration for both.
Reese and O’Neal were both stars at LSU three decades apart. Clark and Reese’s rivalry has transcended multiple levels of women’s basketball, with the pair at the forefront in the rise in popularity of the sport.
Clark was one of several topics discussed on the ‘Unapologetically Angel’ podcast, alongside O’Neal’s vision for WNBA salaries to increase if they lowered the rims.
O’Neal also pointed to the exact reason he had a change of heart on Clark, comparing her to future NBA Hall of Famer Steph Curry.
Clαrk hαѕ brօught plєռty օf ռєw fαռѕ tօ thє WNBA օvєr thє lαѕt yєαr with hєr lєvєl օf plαy
O’Neal is one of those Clark fans after starting out as a ‘hater’ because of his support for Reese
Shaq admits to Angel Reese that he was initially a Caitlin Clark hater:
"She's doing stuff we’ve never seen before. I was a hater because you know I'm down with you. ‘She’s not gonna make that shot’ then BAM! she hits the shot. That means she’s the truth."
(via @angelreeseshow) pic.twitter.com/4HyqhbpW4Y
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) October 25, 2024
Reese interjected during O’Neal’s answer about the best thing about Clark to say she can shoot 3-pointers from the logo.
‘We’ve never seen that before. That’s my point. Steph Curry, a little kid like Steph Curry, you know why I love Steph Curry? Because I’ve never seen that before. I’ve never seen that before. I’ve seen it a little bit, but I’ve never seen a guy consistently come down,’ O’Neal said.
‘If you saw Steph on the street, he ain’t got the Lebron muscles. He looks like a perfect, normal office guy. He’s doing stuff that people never seen before. She’s doing stuff we’ve never seen before. Never seen nobody do that on a consistent basis.’
‘There’s a lot of girls that have done it in spurts. And I was a hater because you know I’m down with you, and I was like she not gonna hit that shot and bam. Like damn, she’s not gonna hit that shot, bam.’
‘Like if I say 10 times, “you’re not gonna hit the shot” and you hit the shot, that means you’re the truth.’
Reese did not respond to O’Neal’s love for Clark. Instead, she opted to move onto her next question without a retort.
