Shaquille O’Neal faces backlash over distasteful remarks on Angel Reese’s ‘little shorts’

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Shaquille O'Neal faced backlash after making contentious remarks on WNBA player Angel Reese's attire during a recent appearance on her podcast, 'Unapologetically Angel'.

The former NBA superstar, 52, talked about envisioning the Chicago Sky forward dunk a basketball in a pair of "little shorts" on the October 24 episode of Reese's podcast. His remarks drew harsh criticism from fans.

Shaquille O'Neal remarks about Angel Reese's 'little shorts'

On 'Unapologetically Angel',  Shaquille O’Neal—a friend and mentor of Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese—offered suggestions for better WNBA salaries and proposed lowering rims to allow for more dunking.

At one point in the podcast, the topic turned to Reese's physique and the outfit she wore at the Wild 'N Out Live Tour’s Chicago stop earlier in October.

O'Neal said, "Imagine you in the same little shorts you had on at the Wild 'N Out show dunking," referring to Reese's shorts she wore while making an appearance at the Chicago event.

He added, "You know how many T-shirts you’re gonna sell?" followed by, "You’re tripping."

Reese appeared to respond by rolling her eyes, laughing reluctantly, and exclaiming, "Oh my god," per People.

"What? Them same little shorts you had on at Wild 'N Out …" O'Neal went on, but Reese tried to interrupt him and divert the conversation.

Reese, 22, who shared the outfit images from the event in an Instagram post, said, "Alright, alright, alright." It was evident she didn't want to proceed any further on this topic.

However, the NBA veteran explained that he would not purchase the hypothetical T-shirt himself, and called Reese "gorgeous".

He remarked, "You're not beautiful or good-looking — you are gorgeous. There's a lot of gorgeous women in the WNBA."

In an interview with USA Today earlier this year, Reese called O'Neal, who accompanied her and her mother to LSU's senior day celebration, "a father figure".

"He’s super inspiring to me. He’s so genuine, he’s been there for me through tough times. He just gets it, and there’s not a more perfect person for me to be tight with," Reese told the outlet.

She said, "We have fun, and if I need anything, he would help me … and he would do that even if I never played basketball again. He doesn’t care about me as a player, he cares about me as a person."

Internet calls out Shaquille O'Neal's remarks over Angel Reese's outfit

Shaquille O'Neal's recent appearance on Angel Reese's podcast caused controversy as several listeners denounced his remarks on the WNBA player's outfit.

One X (formerly Twitter) user exclaimed, "This is creepy af omggg, Shaq exit stage left!!"

A second user condemned the retired NBA star and said, "Angel Reese got upset with Shaq after he kept fantasizing about her Dunking in the tiny shorts she wore at the Wild 'n Out event."

"Angel reese learned a painful lesson about men through shaq in real time, i fear," said one post on X that has received almost 100,000 likes.

The online criticism continued as a user stated, "He's too damn old to not know when he’s making someone uncomfortable. gross."

A user shared a GIF with the caption, "This Angel Reese discourse really got yall showing true colors. Yall the men they were asking little girls to cover up in their own homes for. "How she surprised dressed like that? "She know how Shaq is." "She invites this attention." "Maybe if she put some clothes on..."

A user said, "Shaq’s comments talking to Angel Reese was dumb because they don’t even play in shorts that little and he made it about the length of her shorts so it’s like bruh you sound dumb."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.