Shaq Hits Back at Angel Reese Criticism, Showing How He Really Feels About the WNBA Star

Shaquille O’Neal and Angel Reese have completely opposite celebrity personas. The former is universally loved, while the latter is widely hated by the public.

To that point, Angel has been facing extreme criticism, yet again. As someone who knows the trappings of fame but sees a completely different side of it, Shaq has decided to enter the conversation and make his opinion on the athlete known.

Shaq went into full Papa Bear mode, as he launched a robust defense of Angel, calling out her haters. Per USA Today, the former basketball player shared, "Enough is enough."

Speaking about sports media's treatment of Angel, Shaq said, "They'll take a hot topic and promote it on their page to get their followers up, but you know it's just a lot of nonsense, and just a lot of [it is] embarrassing, and a lot of bullying."

The sports analyst continued with his defense by clarifying, "Sometimes, guys bullying guys is fine, but I can't let you just bully females just so you can get likes."

This isn't the first time Shaq has spoken out on Angel's behalf. In fact, Shaq has been a long-time mentor, advising her on both her game and her public persona. The admiration is certainly mutual. Per Sports Illustrated, Angel has spoken about Shaq with respect, saying, "He's like Unc."

Both athletes have spoken highly of one another and shown off their friendship in the media. Shaq has been a fan of Angel's since the beginning of her career, when she attended his former school, Louisiana State University (LSU). Given that connection and a genuine liking of one another, Shaq took Angel under his wing.

Despite the athletes' overwhelmingly positive relationship with one another, Shaq has endured some criticism over the way he spoke about Angel. People reports that the controversial comments occurred when Shaq appeared on Angel's podcast, Unapologetically Angel.

Speaking about the possibility of the WNBA lowering their rims, Shaq told Angel, "Imagine you in the same little shorts you had on at the Wild 'N Out show, dunking." Making matters even worse, he added, "You know how many T-shirts you’re gonna sell?"

After the incident, fans took to Reddit to share this disappointment, with comments like, "It's the worst when an older guy you once trusted/admired reveals that he just sees you as another piece of eye candy to ogle."

Someone else echoed, "Bring back shame (to these men), like, seriously. They need to be shamed for these jokes until they get it." A third person shared, "This bums me out for her so much."

It's worth noting that the podcast episode in question was recorded roughly two years ago, so the pair has clearly moved on. However, it does shed some light on the fact that it seems that the only time the public will rally around Angel is to slam Shaq.

If he starts to pick up on that, he may just decide to keep saying gross things in order to help his mentee's reputation.