As of this posting, the women’s NCAA basketball championship is just hours away. The game comes to you from Cleveland, and while we don’t know if our man Shaq will be there or not, we know he’ll be taking in the game one way or another.
With his personal friendship and connection to LSU star Angel Reese, O’Neal has been a big fan of the Lady Tigers this year. Unfortunately for Shaq and every other LSU fan and alum, they were knocked out of the tournament this year with a loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes, who are in the National Championship game.
We just remembered… Shaq played in Cleveland for a short time. He should know his way around the city and the Rocket Mortgage arena pretty well. Hmmm… wonder if he’ll be at the big Final game? Shaq-history tidbit: the big man actually played on the same Cavs team as a young guy (at the time) by the name of LeBron James.
If you haven’t been following along with Shaq’s comments this college hoops season here on the ShaqFu Radio blog, or on The Big Podcast with Shaq, you may not have heard O’Neal’s comments and thoughts on the college game this year.
The BIG Podcast with SHAQ
On a recent podcast episode, Shaq welcomed former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. Cousins is now in Atlanta with the Falcons, on what he’s saying will very likely be his last career stop. In fact, he’s had some Shaq-related comments on the move. More on that later…
On the podcast, Cousins asked if the big man has been tuning in to any of the NCAA tournament games. Surprisingly (at least to us), O’Neal said he hasn’t really been watching much… but was definitely following the Lady Tigers. Since then, as mentioned, LSU was knocked out of the tournament by Iowa.
Shaq – as usual – pulled no punches with his comments about his hoops-watching this postseason.”The boys suck so I’m not following, but I’m definitely following the girls,” O’Neal said. “Actually, women’s basketball is kicking a–.”
Now, here at the offices of the ShaqFu Radio blog, we’re pretty well locked in to both the mens’ and the women’s “big dances.” While we’ve always tuned in for the men’s games, this is the first year the ladies’ side has been equally must-see TV, with great games and backstories as well.
For his part, Shaq is all-in with the ladies games: “Last week was like the first time I watched all girls’ games. Like I’ve never done it before, ever. It was crazy – Juju Watkins, Caitlin [Clark], my girl Angel Reese – they just killed it. I don’t think I know any men’s [players].”
With standout stars and recognizable faces like Reese, Clark and Watkins, the ladies tournament is setting all kinds of records. TV viewership is sky-high. Iowa’s rematch of last year’s national championship game against LSU in the Elite Eight drew record numbers, averaging 12.3 million viewers on ESPN, making it (at least for now) the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history.
Also going through the roof, ticket prices for the games. Online seller StubHub says it was selling semifinals tickets for an average of $1,994. Hopefully, they were good seats!
Shaq isn’t the only one who’s enjoying the lady’s tournament. Former O’Neal teammate (from Cleveland, as we mentioned), LeBron James, is also enjoying the action. “I don’t think there’s much difference between the men’s and women’s game when it comes to college basketball. I think the popularity comes in is the icons that they have in the women’s game.”
Enjoy the Championship game!