Shaquille O’Neal suggested that the WNBA should lower its rims to nine feet so that the league would become more popular and also made a harsh comparison between the NBA and WNBA.
“So, I’m tellin’ you now, if you just lower like this right there,” O’Neal said of the WNBA’s rims. “I’m not sayin’ go right there, I’m just — you know what I need you to do one day? And that’s why you got to do what you’ve been doin’ — go take this s—. I’m tellin’ you now, if you lower that thing to 999993 — the same amount. Bro, I’m tellin’ you. Because I don’t wanna use the B word unless it’s certain people playin’, it’s just it’s like you’re watchin’ a high school game. Our game is different because we do all the stuff: alley-oops, throwin’ it off the glass, fast-break three. I’m tellin’ you.”
Reese is already one of the WNBA’s more recognizable names. After a memorable college basketball career at Louisiana State University — O’Neal’s alma mater — she was selected by the Chicago Sky with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
The 22-year-old was a double-double machine in her rookie season in the WNBA. Across 34 games, she averaged 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. Reese was also named an All-Star and finished second in the league’s Rookie of the Year voting behind Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark.
But unlike Clark, Reese wasn’t able to get a taste of what playoff basketball is like in the WNBA in her maiden season. The Sky finished the regular season with one of the worst records in the league at 13-27 and failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Conversely, Clark helped the Fever finish with a respectable 20-20 record, though the team lost to the Connecticut Sun in the first round of the playoffs.
The WNBA doesn’t stack up with the NBA in terms of popularity, but the league seems to be trending in the right direction in terms of brand recognition. A thrilling WNBA Finals series between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx just wrapped up recently.
The Liberty won the best-of-five series 3-2, and New York won the deciding Game 5 in overtime. Plenty of folks tuned into Game 5, as it was reportedly the most-watched WNBA Finals game in well over two decades. Viewership allegedly peaked at 3.3 million people during the back-and-forth affair.
Just announced: Game 5 of the WNBA Finals was the most-viewed Finals game in 25 years with 2.2 million viewers (and it peaked at 3.3). That’s a 142% increase from the championship-clinching Game 4 last year.
What a way for the WNBA to go out with a bang pic.twitter.com/YkR6vN0cmD
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) October 22, 2024
It will be exciting to witness how the WNBA will parlay such a successful season in terms of viewership in the future, and fans of the league shouldn’t be surprised if Reese stakes her claim as one of the best female players in the world next season.
