After 2 Female Coaches Were Snubbed for Chauncey Billups, Shaquille O?Neal Comments on Possible Sexism in NBA Coach Appointments

In the latest episode of the ‘Big Podcast with Shaq’, Shaquille O?Neal and the crew talked about a variety of subjects. During the show, Shaq shared his response to some of the comments recently made by NBA superstar Ben Simmons. O’Neal has been one of the critics of Simmons in the last few months. During the chat, co-host Nichelle Turner asked the ‘Big Diesel’ about hiring female coaches in the NBA. In the recently concluded WNBA season, the Las Vegas Aces won their first-ever championship.

The Aces were the San Antonio Silver Stars who recently migrated to Vegas. They were led by their head coach Becky Hammon who played for the organization for seven years. She played in the WNBA for 15 seasons and had six All-Star appearances. However, she did not win a title during her playing career. Before taking the head coaching role, she was an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs under legendary head coach Gregg Popovich for seven years.

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As per reports, Hammon and former WNBA star Dawn Staley were in the running for the head coaching role of the Portland Trail Blazers. Staley led the University of South Carolina to the NCAA Division I championship this year.

Shaquille O?Neal talks about hiring female head coaches in the NBA

During the podcast, Turner asked Shaquille O?Neal about the Trail Blazers hiring former NBA champion Chauncey Billups over Hammon and Staley, who have each helped their team win a title this year. On the other hand, Billups and the Blazers did not even clinch a playoff spot. So Turner wanted to know whether the barrier should be broken.

“If they are better qualified than Chauncey Billups? Then yes. Okay? I don’t know how you tell a person is better qualified or not. But when I’m running a company, I need the top people. Male or female,”?Shaq replied.

While O’Neal is true about that most fans would argue Billups is more qualified because he has played in the league for so many years. And has also won an NBA championship and even was the Finals MVP. Furthermore, even though both Hammon and Staley have won titles this year, it is not in the NBA. The NBA is one of the most demanding leagues in the world with immense competition.

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However, Hammon and Staley are two very talented head coaches in the game at the moment. And not every head coach who won the NBA title was an NBA superstar.

Do you think Hammon and Staley would win an NBA title if given a chance? Let us know in the comments.