Angel Reese likely envisioned her conversation with NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal centering on their shared stardom at LSU, challenges and accomplishments in the pros, and maybe even a little pop culture.
She probably didn’t think it would involve Shaq gushing over her archrival, Caitlin Clark, but that’s what happened.
On Thursday, during Reese’s Unapologetically Angel podcast, the topic eventually turned to Clark. Shaq admitted he had initially been dubious of Clark before the former Hawkeye definitively changed his mind with her incredible shooting ability. The “Big Aristotle” even compared Clark to NBA superstar Steph Curry.
“Why do you think people love Caitlin Clark?” Shaq asked Reese.
Reese attempted to derail the oncoming Clark hype train by saying that her rival’s three-point shooting “from the logo” was the best thing that could be said about her game, but Shaq pressed the point home.
“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,” Shaq said.
“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.”
Uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation, Reese changed topics.
Some things need to be added to this; however, Reese’s attempt to paint Clark as merely a great three-point shooter would be called racist if she were white and Clark were black. It is a standard racist narrative to paint white basketball players as merely being great because they are great shooters. Reese and Shaq should know that Clark is far more than a three-point shooter.
In addition to breaking records for assists, Clark can drive to the hoop with the best of them. Here, you can watch nearly three minutes of Clark torching Angel Reese and her teammates with three-point shooting, assists, elite passes, and no less than two strong drives to the hoop.
No shot from the logo here:
There are many other videos showing Clark unafraid of getting in the paint.
To be clear, Shaq and Reese may not repeat the “Caitlin Clark can only shoot three’s line” out of any racial animus. However, that is the line used by those who attempt to belittle her, and they both should know that regardless of motive, it is a completely false narrative.
Thank God Caitlin Clark does not have “LeBron muscles,” but she is a complete basketball player in every respect.