O’Neal serves as a mentor to the Chicago Sky ace

Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark

Angel Reese suffered a brutal shutdown at the hands of Shaquille O’Neal‘s ex-agent in the Caitlin Clark comparisons as he coldly told her she hasn’t done anything on the same scale as the 2024 WNBA Draft first pick.

The ex-LSU Tigers star might feel hard done by from the words of Leonard Armato, after all, she did beat Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball national championship game, but that wasn’t enough to impress the executive.

He is firmly in the camp of Clark as the Indiana Fever led her Hawkeyes to two straight championship games in college, on her way to smashing Pete Maravich‘s points-scoring record in her final year.

“Well, you said a lot of different things,” Armato said to Vishal Kolar and EssentiallySports when asked about the debate. “I’ve got to come in a few of them. Number 1, Angel Reese is really interesting and fine and she’s really good for the game.

“But she hasn’t done anything near what Caitlin Clark has done. I mean, Caitlin Clark basically drew a mass audience and was water cooler conversation. Angel Reese kind of was… A little bit.

“Angel Reese is like a great sort of personality, in and out herself, she’s unique and special. Shaq [O’Neal] was really infatuated with her and signed her to Reebok. She calls him like a big brother. He calls her like his sister whatever. So, she’s become a star in and her own right.”

O’Neal chooses Reese

The words people might be looking for on the matter is the words of O’Neal, who was a four-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat after starring with the Orlando Magic from his debut in 1992 to 1996.

The three-time NBA Finals MVP and 15-time NBA All-Star has become an analyst in his post-playing career and after watching the pair of them go at it in college, he’s still firmly on the side of Angel Reese, his protege.

“Probably the greatest athlete to come out of LSU, male or female” O’Neal said of Reese in 2023, as per USA Today. “She delivered that package.

“So, you know, there’s a lot of names you could throw around – men and women – but she’s probably the greatest athlete.”