While Shaquille O’Neal, a father figure to Angel Reese, reckons the Chicago Sky forward will win the ROTY, Uncle Shaq has also been a fan of the rivalry between Reese and Caitlin Clark since their collegiate days. And now, he drops a key piece of advice to the Fever Rookie regarding all the hate narrative that has been thrown at her since the beginning, which O’Neal’s former and forever co-host Charles Barkley dismissed in a rant.

Promoting his new gameshow alongside new co-host Gina Rodriguez, Shaquille O’Neal spoke to E! News. In an exclusive interview, Shaq was asked about the ‘Rising Basketball Star’ Caitlin Clark. “I think they described it as ‘rites of passage. When you’re a great college player and come to the professional level, you have to prove yourself.”

“A lot of people think it’s fair, unfair—it’s the nature of our business,” The 4x NBA champion continued. “I had to go through it. Once you pass the rites of passage, everything will be fine.” When Shaquille O’Neal received criticism at the beginning of his career, he understood, thanks to his mother Lucille, that the criticism had some truth.

Coming back to Caitlin Clark, even though she has not been at her best, she is still averaging the best amongst the rookies in points this season, scoring 16.8 per game, just behind teammate Kelsey Mitchell who averages 17.1. Also, she leads the league overall in assists, averaging 7.8 per game.

Around two months ago, Charles Barkley came in support of Caitlin Clark and spoke against the hate on the Inside Show. “You woman out there, y’all petty, man…Y’all should be thanking [Caitlin Clark] for getting y’all a** private charters,” Barkley remarked, urging women to thank Clark for bringing in visibility and money for the WNBA, rather than criticizing her at every possible opportunity.

During the live show, Shaquille O’Neal was quiet and did not respond. But you can’t keep the Big Man quiet for too long. On his show, The Big Podcast with Shaq, the Lakers legend reasoned his silence.

Shaquille O’Neal addresses the Caitlin Clark hate

Shaquille O’Neal had no context about his best friend’s rant and as usual, had a different take than Charles Barkley. One month ago, the 52-year-old said, “One person may have all the props, but it’s never one person.” Further asserting that no one person could bring in sponsorship money, Shaq made sure that people didn’t forget contributions from her favorite Kelsey Plum. Also, he hyped the Chicago Sky rookie Kamila Cardoso and her niece Angel Reese.

Speaking about Reese, the Los Angeles Lakers legend ended the ROTY debate three weeks ago. On his Instagram, he reshared a post on his story which stated that Reese would win the ROTY, It was after the 3rd game between Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever, where the Chi-Town Barbie finally got the upper hand after 2 defeats. The 22-year-old Sky forward scored 25 points and 16 rebounds to outshine Clark’s 17 points and 13 assists. As per FanDuel odds, Clark is at -600 to win the ROTY, while Reese stands at +350.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.