Shaquille O'Neal shares fan post saying "Angel Reese will win Rookie of the Year"
With the NBA season over, legend and larger-than-life personality Shaquille O'Neal has turned his attention to the WNBA. The former Lakers great has seemingly weighed in on the exciting Rookie of the Year race involving fellow LSU alum Angel Reese.
In a recent Instagram story, Shaq shared a post by a fan which said, "I'm calling it now Angel Reese will win Rookie of the Year."
The picture included in the post was from the third matchup between Angel Reese's Chicago Sky and fellow rookie Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever on Sunday. The Sky got the 88-87 win, their first victory in three attempts against the Fever, on the back of Reese's 25 points and 16 rebounds.
Reese is averaging 13.2 points and 11.1 rebounds this season. She has nine double-doubles on the season, which leads all rookies and is tied for second overall in the league. Moreover, she is on a run of eight consecutive double-doubles, which is a new WNBA record.
On the other side, Clark adds a scoring dimension to the mix, with a quick trigger and sneaky passing vision. Clark has been brilliant this year with averages of 16.2 points and 6.4 assists per game.
Shaquille O'Neal credits Angel Reese and other stars for boosting WNBA's popularity
Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal attributed the WNBA's recent momentum to the efforts of Chicago Sky standout Angel Reese and her fellow players. On an episode of "The Big Pod with Shaq" podcast, Shaq resurfaced the idea that fans should recognize contributions of players beyond Caitlin Clark in boosting the WNBA's popularity.
"Don't say, 'Oh we getting new sponsorship beacuse of Caitlin [Clark)] No, what about Angel Reese? What about [Kamilla] Cardoso? What about my favorite Kelsey Plum?" Shaq said.
Shag's co-host Adam Lefkoe, meanwhile, also threw out Cameron Brink and A'ja Wilson, noting that the latter has been scoring like crazy this season. Shaq said the reason WNBA players are upset with the media is that as players, people don't want to be forgotten.
This followed a wave of publicity for WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark. But Shaq wants to make sure people aren't too quick to forget about other great players who have contributed too.
Reese provides a noteworthy example. She leads all rookies by a large margin in rebounding percentage, as evidenced by how well she has taken to the glass.