On Sunday, Angel Reese helped lead LSU to a national championship. It was her trash talking with Iowa star Caitlin Clark though that was a big talking point on Monday.
Many prominent voices in the media were upset at Reese's actions. Former ESPN anchor and current podcast host Keith Olbermann tweeted a video of Reese with the caption "What a f—ing idiot." Barstool Sports president Dave Portnoy took to Twitter to call Reese a "classless piece of s—."
LSU alumni Shaquille O'Neal was having none of it. He hopped into Olbermann's replies, tweeting to "shut your dumb a— up leave angel reese alone."
shut your dumb ass up leave angel reese alone.
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) April 3, 2023
He replied to Portnoy in a thread, tweeting "and so is your mother."
and so is your mother
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) April 3, 2023
O'Neal clarified his comments toward Olbermann to The Sporting News.
"I don't mind people having an opinion, but you don't call that little girl a f—ing idiot," O'Neal said. "I don't usually do that, but I felt some kind of way. Like bro, she's a little girl."
"I'm not gonna be going back and forth with him but I promise you, if that was my daughter, you would have had bigger problems."
MORE: Angel Reese sounds off after Caitlin Clark taunt: 'I don't fit the narrative'
Olbermann did issue an apology of sorts for being "uninformed" about Clark engaging in similar trash talk at the time of his original tweet. But he later tweeted that "basketball lost" him because of the lack of sportsmanship in the game.
O'Neal vehemently disagrees.
"Every person that wins TYS-es. Talk your s—. It doesn't matter if you think it's classy or not. Doesn't matter. When I won my championships, you don't think I was talking smack? Pointing fingers?"
"I know Angel. She is a very classy, nice little girl. But hey, she plays with emotion. She's from Baltimore. When you grow up in certain areas, you gotta grow up how you grow up. So she talks her talk."
Many were upset that Reese's trash talking received such harsh pushback when Clark had engaged in similar actions throughout the tournament with little public outcry. Olbermann later tweeted that "both were wrong" once he learned of Clark's history. But O'Neal still felt that Olbermann's actions crossed a line.
MORE: Why Caitlin Clark is a lock to be the top pick in 2024 WNBA Draft
"If he would have said that was a classless move, I wouldn't have responded. But you say f—ing idiot? You don't do that. You don't know that little girl like I do. I don't usually do that but I got in the moment. Because when I took my daughter down there for the college visit, they treated her real nice. I just got into fatherly mode, because you call my daugher an idiot, it ain't gonna be no talking."
"When you win your championship, you have that window to TYS, talk your stuff. I did it, Draymond does it, everyone does it. She won, she's happy, she did it her way. She played her butt off. So when you play like that, you should be able to do what you want. She's a college student, she's passing her classes. You ain't got no drug arrest, you ain't got no DUIs, you ain't got no boyfriend problems. So leave that girl alone."
Olbermann continued to defend his opinion, elaborating his comments on Monday morning on his Countdown podcast.
"Reese was named MVP of the tournament, and nobody will remember that, nor the LSU crown," Olbermann said. "Just the fact that women's hoops has now achieved parity with the men; its stars can be classless winners who are willing to overshadow their own team's victories."
