As the WNBA continues to be hijacked by the Angel Reese vs. Caitlin Clark rivalry, Shaquille O’Neal is watching on like a proud dad on the sidelines. While The Diesel has been surprisingly tame in this debate, he recently shared his candid take on why it’s time to pump the brakes on the hype surrounding the rookie on the Indiana Fever.
“I understand what everybody’s doing. Yeah you’re great, but you ain’t that great yet. Calm down. We still got Diana Taurasi, we still got A’ja Wilson, if you’re gonna give (Caitlin) props make sure our girls that are dominating in this league get the same props. Loudmouths like Chuck are talking about hating — it’s not hating. It’s like, you’re good but let’s slow it down a notch,” said O’Neal via USA Today. “As good as Caitlin Clark is, we’ve had a lot of young ladies who have been doing good (before) and not getting props. People like props and they want to feel good when you’re talking about (their league) … it’s not hating. Everybody has to wait their turn.”
There are few who know greatness better than Shaquille O’Neal. As a 4x champion, former MVP, and 15x All-Star, he’s one of the best basketball players ever and his dominance has yet to be matched. Today, as an analyst/observer of the game, he often takes a tough-love approach when reviewing modern-day bigs.
Lately, he’s even gotten into the WNBA and it’s where his latest take has gone viral. Clark, who was drafted first overall this summer, has taken the league by storm and her historic performance has gotten a lot of fans riled up.
In 36 games to start her career, Clark is on a historic pace with averages of 19.2 points, 8.5 assists, and 5.8 rebounds per game on 42.3% shooting. She’s the leading candidate for rookie of the year and her shooting on the perimeter shares a striking resemblance to Stephen Curry’s.
Many fans, experts, and former players have already taken to crowning Caitlin as the WNBAs next generational superstar and there are predictions that she will change the league forever. Even as Angel Reese builds her own Rookie of the Year campaign, Clark has dominated the conversation and she stands as the vision of the future.
Around the league, the competition’s treatment towards Clark has been aggressive, at best, and public outcry has been abundant as more and more altercations have made the public eye. Retaliation has been loud from Clark’s supporters and there is an active movement to be more intentional about protecting her health.
In Shaq’s view, however, the hype has gotten too loud for Caitlin. As good as she’s been, Clark doesn’t have anything to show for her time as a pro and she’s got no accolades to set her apart from the field. Currently, her team is 19-17 and considered a longshot to win the title.
So before anyone crowns Caitlin as the GOAT of the WNBA, they should probably wait until she wins a thing or two. At the very least, she needs to add some awards to her record so her resume can hold up against other elite women athletes like Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, and A’ja Wilson. Until then, Caitlin needs to earn her respect just like everybody else who has tried to ascend to stardom.
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