Did you watch the Women’s NCAA Championship game? A lot of people did, and that’s really great. TV ratings show it did very, very well on nightly ratings.
If you watched the game, you might have seen a very interesting moment that featured one of the stars of the LSU Tigers, Angel Reese and a little bit of trash-talking to members of opposition Iowa.
Towards the end of the game, Reese flashed a hand-sign to Iowa, showing where she would soon be wearing her championship ring. If you’ve seen the TV commercials with Steph Curry and Candace Parker, you’ve seen both those hoops great flash pretty much the same sign.
When Reese did it, there was a bit of a reaction. Some thought it was over the top, or insulting. But hang on… our man Shaq says Reese absolutely earned the right to talk trash after leading her team to the 2023 NCAA championship win.
O’Neal talked to People Magazine shortly after the Final. Shaq said this year was the best women’s Final Four ever: “When you’re a champion, you’re allowed to TYS: talk your stuff.”
O’Neal says he personally reached out to Reese, telling her to not worry about the naysayers. “I talked to Angel yesterday. I said, ‘Hey, you’re a champion. Enjoy being a champion and have fun.’ “
O’Neal called out what People called online trolls who tried to make a big deal out of Reese’s move. “That’s the problem with Twitter…Everybody gets to voice their opinion,” O’Neal says.
Shaq was definitely in Reese’s corner after Sunday’s game. He made a point of going after sports and news commentator Keith Olbermann, who put out a tweet calling Reese an “idiot” for her taunts toward Iowa players. Shaq shot back: “Shut your dumb a– up leave Angel Reese alone.”
Reese obviously saw it and responded with a repost of her own: “Yeah my uncle shaq don’t play bout me. Period.”
Reese was one of the players who spoke on the podium in the post-game press conference. She had a strong message for other young ladies coming up in the sports world: “All year I was critiqued about who I was. I don’t fit the narrative. I don’t fit in the box that you all want me to be in. I’m too hood, I’m too ghetto. You told me that all year. But when other people do it, y’all don’t say nothing.”
She continued: “So this is for the girls that look like me, that want to speak up on what they believe in. It’s unapologetically you. It was bigger than me tonight. I’m happy. I felt I helped grow women’s basketball.”
For her strong play throughout the Championship tournament, Reese was named the 2023 Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament. She scored a double-double in every game of the tournament… nice!