This one’s going to be bittersweet for Shaquille O’Neal. He usually holds his career records very dear and doesn’t concede to new contenders easily. But this time, he might be feeling taller than 7 feet about because it’s his prodigy, Angel Reese. The LSU alum and now Chi-Town Barbie has reached a milestone across both the NBA and WNBA with her latest feat. Chicago Sky’s rebounding force has achieved the rookie record Shaq set in April 1993 at her latest game.

While Sky faltered before Connecticut Sun on Friday’s game, Reese finished with 13 points and 20 rebound. This set her as the first player in WNBA history to have 20 or more rebounds in consecutive games. Apart from being a WNBA-wide record, she’s also the first rookie in NBA or WNBA history with consecutive 20-rebound games since Shaquille O’Neal did it in his rookie season.

It was the only high point for Sky tonight. They had a slow first half against Connecticut and barely closed the score gap. They still lost 82-80 and their record dropped 11-17. Despite matching Shaq in a record, Reese isn’t earning much hype.

After just 27 games, Reese is the fastest in league history to record 20 double-doubles. While extending that record, Reese made her first career 20-rebound game against Phoenix last week. But it wasn’t enough for Sky to overcome that 18-point deficit. While she’s been a rebounding machine, Skytown’s recent woes have made fans critical of Reese’s shooting abilities.

Despite a record-setting streak before the Olympics, Reese was 39.7% from the field. Her shooting percentage has barely improved to 50+% better since the WNBA returned from the Olympic break. For all her double-digit scores, the forward has missed many layups. Last week, she struggled against the Sparks going 4-for-13 from the field though she scored 14 points. With the recent loss, Chicago is barely hanging on to the last playoff spot.

Fans are disappointed that her efficiency is yet to improve. But they praise for conducting business as usual setting records.

Shaq has clear expectations for Angel Reese

For all intents and purposes, the ROTY race is between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, two outstanding rookies who play very different kinds of basketball. While Reese has been collecting double-double stats, Clark accomplished the rookie assists record recently and is leading Indiana to a winning streak.

Shaq is on the side of both rookies, foreseeing tremendous improvement for both in the future. Now he’s campaigning for Reese to get the same title he won in 1993. O’Neal ended his first record-setting season in 1993 with a near-unanimous ROTY. This WNBA race is not that clear-cut, quite evenly split maybe between the Reese and Clark fans. Yet Shaq put this big task on Angel’s rookie to-do list.

Those who disagree accuse Shaq of being biased. Of course, he is. That’s his ‘niece.’ He would quite like his mentee to have the same resume as his.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.