Caitlin Clark has quickly gained the respect of the entire basketball world thanks to her excellent play dating back to her days at Iowa. But one NBA legend admitted on Friday that he wasn’t always a fan of Clark.
Hall of Fame big man Shaquille O’Neal of course hails from LSU, largely putting the school on the map as a basketball powerhouse during his collegiate playing days.
While LSU no longer remains a great men’s basketball program, they do happen to have a great women’s basketball team. A team that has a claim to fame over Caitlin Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes just two seasons ago.
It was of course LSU led by Angel Reese that defeated Iowa in the National Championship two seasons ago. And ever since, Angel Reese has become quite close with Shaq, which remains true throughout her WNBA career.
O’Neal appeared on Angel Reese’s podcast, Unapologetically Angel, on Friday, where he admitted that he once “hated on” Clark during her days at Iowa.
“She’s doing stuff we’ve never seen before,” O’Neal said. “We’ve never seen anybody do it on a consistent basis. There’s a lot of girls in the WNBA that have done it in spurts, but that game I’m watching ya’ll (LSU vs. Iowa) in the Final Four, I’m like ‘Damn.’ And I was a hater, because you know I went to LSU.” O’Neal admitted. “I was like ‘She’s not going to hit that shot.’ And bam! She’s not going to hit that shot. Bam! If I say ‘You’re not going to hit that shot’ 10 times and you hit the shot, that means you’re the truth.”
Clearly, Clark now has the respect and admiration of O’Neal. But it clearly took some convincing for him to be turned into a fan.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.