Shaquille O’Neal has had just about enough of the trolls going after WNBA players, especially Angel Reese and Lauren Betts.
During an appearance on the “Rich Eisen Show” last week, the NBA great told host Suzy Shuster that he wished he “could punch some of these guys in their face that just pick on my Angel and pick up on my Lauren.”
“Because enough is enough,” he said. “The problem with [sports media] now is you’re letting amateurs come in, and the amateurs think they have the same rights as you guys have. You letting all these guys come, and they say stuff off the wall, and they keep going. A lot of guys when they get off air, they want people to go to their page.
“So what do they do to go to their page? “They’ll take a hot topic and promote it on their page to get their followers up, but you know it’s just a lot of nonsense, and just a lot of [it is] embarrassing, and a lot of bullying sometimes. Guys bullying guys is fine, but I can’t let you just bully females just so you can get likes.”
Both Reese and Betts are under the Reebok basketball brand — O’Neal is the brand’s president — and he has long been a supporter of the Sky star, dating back to her days in college at LSU, where he went to school.
Reese told USA Today in 2024 that O’Neal was a “father-figure” to her during her college days, and his support had come during a time when she had been marred in controversy for taunting superstar Caitlin Clark, who was playing for Iowa at the time.
Reese is currently averaging 13.1 points and 11 rebounds this year in her first season with the Dream, who acquired her during the offseason in a trade with the Sky.
Betts, in her rookie season, is averaging 5.1 points and 2.7 rebounds.
“They are having fun, they are playing fabulous, they are both determined to do great things, and I just stay out of their way,” O’Neal said. “They have my number.
“They know if they need me, they can call me.”
