Shaquille O’Neal has spoken about the hype surrounding WNBA rookie sensation Caitin Clark and has conceded she is the real deal after watching her play in Chicago in late August.
“When I see stuff on TV I’m like, OK, I’d like to see it in person. Well, I saw it in person,” O’Neal said of Clark, via USA Today. “She can play … from a basketball standpoint, she makes all the right plays, gets everybody involved and she has that Steph Curry (shooting) range.”
Charles Barkley recently called out the NBA media for their ‘petty’ and ‘jealous’ behavior surrounding Clark.
But Shaq sees it differently.
“There’s envious jealousy, there’s professional jealousy,” O’Neal said. “Sure there’s a lot of people who are professionally jealous. I am. I’m professionally jealous of a lot of people. I’m professionally jealous of Steph [Curry], he makes $60 million. But hey, that’s life.
“You gotta also understand that we’re not just going to give it to you because everybody else is giving it to you. You still gotta earn it. Chuck had to go through that, I had to go through that, so 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.”
O’Neal went on to speak about the dominance of Wilson, who is having a baller season for the Aces and looks the favorite to take home her third MVP.
“Loudmouths like Chuck are talking about hating — it’s not hating,” O’Neal continued. “It’s like, you’re good but let’s slow it down a notch. 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.”