Fans are growing weary of former NBA star and notable bachelor Shaquille O’Neal publicly making fresh comments to women not only much younger than him but young enough to be his daughter.
Many gave Shaq a pass when he slid into the Home Depot girl’s DM and complimented her beauty.
They look at him sideways when he was lusting after the 24-year-old Bronx rap star Ice Spice, telling him to leave the “young bucks alone.” Many completely lost it he was being extremely flirtatious with the white 22-year-old “Hawk Tuah” girl this summer in July.
Now, fans seem to be through with the Newark Casanova after his statements to his younger “mentee” Angel Reese, who has a podcast on his “The Big Podcast Network.”
Shaq appeared on a recent episode of her “Unapologetically Angel” podcast and attempted to give the WNBA star advice on how to gain more followers and views on her successful upstart show.
The episode started with him sitting across from her saying, “Bro a pretty girl dunking on a rim, I’m watching that all the time.”
Reese, dressed in a pink velour sweatsuit and glasses, laughs out loud, before saying that “a man is not turned on by no woman dunking.”
During the end of the episode, she asked Shaq to give her some advice and he told her what he thought about her game, her and her WNBA sister’s looks, and how it could benefit them in the long run.
First, he gave her words of encouragement, comparing her to another dominant player in the NBA, saying, “You’re the female Antoine Jamison,” Shaq noted, recognizing her potential to rack up points with her own flair and encouraging her to get some signature moves.
One signature move she could adapt, according to the father of three daughters, was in how she dressed.
He began saying Reese should wear the shorts she wore on the MTV show “Wild ‘N Out” fans — and their paychecks — would take notice.
“Imagine you on the same little shorts you had on at ‘Wild ‘N Out’ dunking. You know how many T-shirts you going to sell?” Shaq said.
As she blushed and squirmed from being uncomfortable, he went on and said, “Listen, you’re not just beautiful, good-looking. You are gorgeous.”
He went on to say that there were a lot of “gorgeous” women in the league.
“Y’all are not just fine and hot… some of y’all are gorgeous. Like you, when you dress up and you like really dress up and you are a beautiful, phenomenal-looking Black woman,” he said, before adding that women in the WNBA should “focus on what the guys like” to see and think.
The Chicago Sky player said, “We don’t care what the guys like.”
He snapped back, “That’s the problem.”
Fans immediately weighed in, criticizing what he said to her, saying it was inappropriate.
“Shaq a nasty n—ga… you suppose to be her mentor/father figure, but your creep a— making these type comments… I lost all respect for him when he jumped in that Home Depot girl DM’s shooting his shot,” one person wrote.
Shaq a nasty nigga… you suppose to be her mentor/father figure, but your creep ass making these type comments… I lost all respect for him when he jumped in that Home Depot girl DM’s shooting his shot https://t.co/KiGgPCW7a7
— Wayne (@MrWayneWoo) October 26, 2024
When Spiritual Word posted the clip, many had their thoughts.
“This is like that one uncle at the family reunion who keeps bringing up how you’re shaped and saying ‘damn you’ve grown up!’…no sir!” the person wrote.
Another said, “That’s weird and I know it made her uncomfortable because she look at him like an uncle men can never respect boundaries smh.”
Someone asked, “Don’t he have kids her age?” as a fourth comment stated, “Damn imagine being sexualized by someone who is probably like a hero to you.”
A fourth said, “So yall ok with him making her feel uncomfortable because of her outfit choice ??? whew.”
Not everyone was upset with his remarks, saying there is a message behind his madness.
“His deliverance was weird and creepy but he’s basically saying if you gonna dress like that at least make some money from it,” one person commented.
“I think y’all missed his angle! He trying to tell her something. Like he said he loves her like a daughter and it’s his way of saying stop dressing like that if you don’t want that kind of attention,” the X user tweeted. “Now if that’s the attention she wants by all means she should keep doing her.”
Another way that Shaq seemed to have made Reese uncomfortable was the repeated compliments on Caitlin Clark, the other WNBA rookie that has been dubbed her nemesis since their days playing collegiate basketball. He even went as far as comparing Clark to Steph Curry.
While the reviews are mixed on his comments, what is super clear is that he has given her some tips on how to make money, how to keep money, and how not to waste money.
One of the tips he told her was not to move to Miami and buy property. While she seemed to listen, like most 22-year-olds listening to someone in their middle age, she appeared to be ready to do what she wants.
