On Sunday evening, Shaquille O’Neal, a well-known NBA athlete, ripped into former ESPN host Keith Olbermann on social media. Olbermann had insulted Angel Reese, who is one of the LSU women’s basketball team’s most valuable players, by calling her a “f—ing idiot” after she taunted Iowa’s Caitlin Clark during the NCAA women’s national championship game.
Olbermann tweeted about Reese’s actions, which involved copying Caitlin Clark’s “you can’t see me” gesture. Clark had initially performed this gesture during Iowa’s triumph over the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Final Four round.
Furthermore, Reese pointed to her finger to indicate that she believed LSU would win the championship soon.
Some people criticized the incident as being unsportsmanlike, while others saw it as just part of the game, like trash-talking.
But former Los Angeles Lakers star Shaquille O’Neal expressed his strong disagreement with Olbermann’s choice of words on Twitter.
“Shut your dumb a– up, leave Angel Reese alone,” Shaq tweeted.
shut your dumb ass up leave angel reese alone.
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) April 3, 2023
Olbermann initially criticized Reese and Clark, but later admitted that his earlier comments were uninformed and declared that both players were wrong. Furthermore, Shaq also criticized Barstool Sports founder, Dave Portnoy, who called Reese a “Classless piece of s—.”
and so is your mother
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) April 3, 2023
Shaq is so invested in this because he graduated from LSU and played college basketball there. Reese played the race card in her post-game interview to justify her actions.
“All year, I was critiqued about who I was. The narrative — I don’t fit the narrative. I don’t fit the box you all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. You told me that all year,” Reese said.
“But when other people do it — you all don’t say nothing. So, this is for the girls that look like me. That’s going to speak up for what they believe in. It’s unapologetically you, and that’s what I did it for tonight. It was bigger than me tonight. It was bigger than me. Twitter is going to go in a rage every time. And, I mean, I’m happy. I feel like I helped grow women’s basketball this year. I’m super happy and excited. I’m looking forward to celebrating and then next season.”