Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neal and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese have similar college pedigrees: All-America honors, SEC Player of the Year trophies and SEC All-Defense honors to spare at LSU.
However, Reese has not made the seamless transition to the professional ranks O'Neal did. A solid rookie season has given way to a difficult (if young) sophomore campaign, and she has had to deal with repeated negative comparisons to former college foil and Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark.
O'Neal, nonetheless, continues to see the good in his fellow former Tiger—as he discussed with Sports Illustrated in a recent conversation promoting his new Netflix documentary series Power Moves with Shaquille O'Neal.
"She reminds me of myself or (Hall of Fame guard Allen Iverson)," O'Neal said. "She’s as good or even better than some of the people that y’all are kissing up to, but y’all don’t know it. But she knows it. And in order to be great, you have to know you’re great... they’re always gonna have a good guy, and they’re always gonna have a bad guy."
Reese hinted at her potential on Wednesday while also nodding at a much-discussed flaw in her game. She tallied 13 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in a loss to the Phoenix Mercury—repeatedly getting to the line and making seven of nine free throws.
On the flip side, she made just three of her nine field-goal attempts. The Sky, for all their young talent, are just 1-4 on the season.
"She just needs to continue to be beautiful, play her game, better her game, and don’t worry about the nonsense," O'Neal said. "I tell her all the time, don’t be looking at those comments. Because they don’t really have a voice, they just think they do."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shaquille O'Neal Shares the Advice He Gives Fellow LSU Great Angel Reese.