Social media reacts to Shaquille O’Neal’s comments about Angel Reese’s “tiny shorts.”

Social media users are criticizing NBA veteran Shaquille O’Neal for his awkward comments about Angel Reese. In the last episode of Reese’s Podcast “Without Embarrassment Angel”.O’Neal and the Chicago Sky forward discussed the discrepancies between the national men’s and ladies’s basketball associations.

While Reese highlighted the disparity in viewership and earnings, O’Neal shared his controversial “solution” to the problem: lower the ring so more WNBA women could dunk.

“Pretty girl diving into the hoop, I watch that all the time,” O’Neal said. “You idiot…trust me, it will change…it’s about seeing things you shouldn’t see.”

Confessing that she hates it when men make such suggestions in a discussion, Reese dismissed O’Neal’s comment, noting that there are women within the WNBA who can dunk at the present height of the ring. Although the retired athlete clarified his statement by explaining that viewers like to see things they’ve never seen before, the conversation took a nasty turn when O’Neal commented on Angel Reese’s appearance.

“If you listen to my method, your dream will surely come true lower down… to a place where you can all dunk. “Imagine you’re wearing the same short shorts you wore to the ‘Wild ‘N Out’ concert and you’re diving,” he continued, referring to the shorts Reese wore while performing at the Chicago stop of the Wild ‘N Out Live Tour at beginning of this month. “Do you know how many T-shirts you’re going to sell?”

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Rolling her eyes and clearly feeling uncomfortable, Reese laughed awkwardly as O’Neal continued to talk about how the uniform change would increase sales and revenue for the WNBA.

“You are not beautiful (or) handsome, you are gorgeous. There are a lot of great women in the WNBA… Sometimes when people see all of you for the first time, they see all of you for what you do; they don’t know how damn beautiful you all are,” he added. “Men watch the games and we like what we like. (Combine that) with seeing you all dunking and your money will increase tremendously.”

Just as Reese appeared to be physically uncomfortable with O’Neal’s uncensored comments, social media users were equally concerned about his statements.

“Shaq is 52 years old. Angel Reese is 22 years old. It’s clear that Angel feels betrayed. She thought Shaq could be more like family (and he’s) realizing he’s just one other lonely pervert. Fucking disgusting,” wrote one user on X.

The others called out how disturbing it was for O’Neal to “sexualize Angel Reese when he is 30 years older than her and has children older than her.”

O’Neal’s comments were particularly disgusting considering Reese once referred to O’Neal as a “father figure” when describing their mentor-mentee relationship. Since each attended LSU before entering the skilled basketball league draft, the retired athlete was an “understanding ear” for Reese throughout the 2024 WNBA draft.

“He is extremely inspiring to me,” Reese said USA today. “He is so honest, he was there for me in difficult times. He just gets it and there is no more perfect person to be close to… He doesn’t care about me as a player, he cares about me as an individual.

Similarly, O’Neal once echoed these sentiments while explaining their unique bond.