Shaquille O’Neal’s recent appearance on pal Angel Reese’s podcast sparked controversy this week after comments made to the WNBA star were condemned as “creepy” by some listeners.
During Thursday’s installment of “Unapologetically Angel,” Shaq — who is a friend and mentor to the Chicago Sky forward — floated ideas as to how compensation in the WNBA can improve and suggested rims being lowered to open the possibility of more dunking.
At one point in the podcast, the conversation shifted to Reese’s physique and an outfit worn to a recent event, with Shaq, 52, stating, “Bro, imagine you in those little ass shorts you had on at the ‘Wild ‘n Out’ show, dunking. You know how many T-shirts you gonna sell, you trippin. What? What? Those same little ass shorts.”
Reese, 22, who modeled the look in an Oct. 10 Instagram post, replied, “Alright, alright, alright.”
The soundbite unsurprisingly made its way around the internet, with social media users calling out the four-time NBA champ over the remarks.
“Come on Shaq wtf. You 30 years older than her and supposed to be her mentor,” one Instagram user commented Saturday on a post from The Shade Room, which shared the clip in question.
“It’s not the comment itself, it’s the fact he didn’t catch her discomfort with it,” another posted.
One X user called the exchange “creep af.”
Reese and O’Neal forged a close bond amid her meteoric rise following LSU’s national championship win over Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2023.
Her profile has only continued to soar, with the Sky selecting her No. 7 overall in April’s WNBA draft.
Reese averaged 13.6 points, 13.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in her rookie season.
O’Neal, who also played collegiately at LSU, previously lauded Reese as the school’s “greatest athlete” for bringing the first title to the women’s basketball program.