The second half of Angel Reese’s rookie season hasn’t gone the way she or her ‘Unc’ planned. After a much-hyped arrival, thrilling matchups, and matching Shaquille O’Neal in records, Reese’s season came to an abrupt halt this month. Shaq was concerned about her health but the Chicago Sky rookie was worried for her team. But even that suffered a setback. It’s now putting O’Neal’s ambitions to see Angel Reese crowned Rookie of the Year in jeopardy.

Reese injured her wrist mid-game on September 6. She’d express her devastation over the season-ending blow on X and underwent surgery on September 10. Speaking of his bond with his ‘seventh kid’ to Vibe, O’Neal disclosed the conversation he had with her immediately after her injury.

“When she broke her hand the other day, I hit her up like, ‘You all right?’ She said, ‘Yeah, I’m good.’ I was like, ‘I hope this doesn’t interact with the Rookie of the Year,’ and she’s like, ‘I don’t care. I just want my team to make the play-offs,” O’Neal said. At the time of this interview, the Chicago Sky’s chances were still alive. However, as of Friday, Atlanta Dream clinched the last playoff spot.

The second they selected the LSU star seventh overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft, Chicago Sky was looking like a postseason team. Reese was a strong contender for ROTY with Caitlin Clark and Shaq was hoping she’d win that award. However, losing Reese to a wrist injury halted their momentum. Meanwhile, Clark led the Indiana Fever to the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade and her bag for ROTY is looking bigger.

Shaq is naturally devastated for Reese. But he’s taking it like a concerned dad sheering on his kids from the sidelines. “And I do the same thing with my kids. My kids are adults now, but I told my [son] the other day, ‘Bro, you don’t have to call me every day, we good. I did my job from zero to 18 [years old]. I got you to college. You’re a man now. You got your daddy’s number. You call me, if you need me.’” He knows Reese can handle it and he’ll be there whenever she needs him.

Angel Reese looks ahead along with Shaquille O’Neal

Clark said that neither she nor Reese cared about ROTY as much as others did. They reveled in their teams more. For Angel, seeing the Sky in the playoffs was the goal. Now she looks back on an exciting season fondly.

After Chicago missed the playoff berth, she posted some of her best memories with a message: “Year 1 was filled with nothing but amazing memorable memories. Bye-bye, Rook15!”

She later wrote on X, “Woke up & remembered I’m not a rookie anymore.” After her injury, Reese revealed she was already looking forward to her next year and possibly head to the playoffs. Shaquille O’Neal should look forward to big things in Angel’s sophomore year too.