Shaquille O’Neal landed himself in hot water after remarks he made while in conversation with Angel Reese on her podcast, Unapologetically Angel. While the pair were discussing the current state of the WNBA, Shaq began tossing out his ‘solutions’ for what would help increase viewership, popularity, and player salaries. 

 

But as he began revealing his suggestions, they became increasingly problematic and it was clear that they were rooted in some of the same widely-held beliefs that have long plagued the WNBA: misogyny, the sexualization of female players and an inherent belief that women’s sports are not as entertaining or as valuable as men’s sports.

The portion of the interview that has sparked the most outrage began plainly, with Shaq telling Angel that in order for women players to make more money, fans need to participate in the purchasing of WNBA jerseys and merchandise, which is true. He goes on to say that because of how players like Angel and Caitlin Clark have been playing, and because of the beef they had, the WNBA is ‘more popular than ever now’. But it was his suggestion about lowering the rim in order to facilitate more dunking and particularly what women should be wearing while dunking that not only visibly made Angel uncomfortable but put in plain sight the issues – and the people - women athletes are up against in their fight for more equity.

 

“I like how ya’ll are starting to get into fashion. Bro. A pretty girl dunking on a rim? I’m watching that all day,” he tells Angel. When she fires back that men aren’t turned on by women dunking, he says it’s not about that. “It’s about seeing stuff that you’re not supposed to see.”

Shaq was on to something when he first started speaking. According to Statista, in 2023, U.S. wholesale sales of basketball team uniforms amounted to more than $289 million U.S. dollars. So he’s right in saying that a huge barrier to women not earning more is due to money being missed out on over the sales of jerseys, shoes and team or player specific merch.

But in order to boost sales, the women’s division of the sport itself needs to become more popular. And his suggestion about how to go about boosting popularity is not only contradictory, but a mockery of the WNBA. He’s telling Angel that women need to put on the same kind of show male players do, but he’s suggesting they do it while being scantily clad and while shooting on lowered rims.

“Imagine you in them same little ass shorts you had on at the ‘Wild ‘N Out’ show dunking. You know how many T-shirts you gon’ sell?” he said.

 

So in short, Shaq started off by saying he agrees WNBA players should earn more money. To do that, the women need to be on par with the men, playing more aggressively and dunking but on a lowered rim, a statement Angel said she ‘hates’ hearing men say. And women should dunk on lowered rims in ‘little ass shorts’. He said that the sport is peaking right now thanks to a high-profile beef between two women, not thanks to the skill or talent of the players. And to top it all off, he said that without players like Caitlin Clark and Angel on the court, it’s like ‘watching a high school game’. 

 

This entire exchange was really sexist. First, sex appeal doesn’t come up in conversations about men’s basketball to the extent it does with women’s basketball. Second, Shaq would never suggest any of these ideas to a male basketball player. He simply would not sit across from a male podcast host and basketball player and say that men shooting shirtless would attract more fans. So why is he implying that in order for women to attract more viewers and higher earnings that they should do so in ‘little ass shorts’?

Angel made it clear that she was not in agreement with any of Shaq’s ideas. Because Angel, like most women, knows that even if the rim was lowered, the players would then be mocked for dunking on a shorter rim. And if women even dared to play in anything other than a standard basketball uniform, they would be slut-shamed. If they’re not taken seriously now, they’re not going to be taken seriously playing in shorts and with lowered rims.

All of this highlights how exclusionary the mere discussion of sports has been over the years toward women. We see this in Shaq’s constant referral to Angel as ‘bro’. I get it, they’re close friends. They have rapport. But the improper address of her is an indication that he likely only has conversations about sports with men. This is why we see such colossal failures at post-game press conferences, with journalists asking women players questions about things entirely unrelated to the game, or even worse, making passes at the players like Gregg Doyel did before he was banned from covering any of Caitlin Clark’s games over the inappropriate exchange.

 

But perhaps the most disappointing aspect of all of this is the very visible discomfort that washed over Angel when Shaq discussed her Wild ‘N Out outfit, a topic she quickly tried to move on from. Because while she’s professed viewing him as a father figure in the past, here he is sexualizing her during a conversation about her profession, suggesting she incorporate more sex appeal into her work.

Social media users picked up on this, reacting on X, saying:

Tweets about Angel Reese
Tweets about Angel Reese
Tweets about Angel Reese
 

The last tweet that suggests Shaq’s status as an NBA legend allowing him free passes at being creepy helps illuminate some of Angel’s previous remarks and expressions of admiration for him. She had this to say about him to USA Today:

“He’s super inspiring to me. He’s so genuine, he’s been there for me through tough times. He just gets it, and there’s not a more perfect person for me to be tight with…We have fun, and if I need anything, he would help me … and he would do that even if I never played basketball again. He doesn’t care about me as a player, he cares about me as a person.”

In her eyes, he is a legend. But she learned the hard lesson that even legends can be creepy sometimes. And that must be a really tough pill to swallow. I’m hoping that the backlash this exchange has caused puts the sports industry - from the people playing to the fans watching to the people covering it – on notice. To Shaq’s point, the WNBA is more popular than it ever has been before, and it’s high time we give the league and the players in it the respect that’s deserved. 

Photo credits: Stephen Lovekin/ Shutterstock

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