“I hate when men say that,” Angel Reese quickly shut down Shaquille O’Neal’s opinions about changing the rule for the WNBA. Since the episode of the podcast aired, people have heavily discussed the Lakers legend’s comments. Some are against the idea, while some seem to be on board with it. One such person who agreed with Shaq’s take years ago once again justified the reasoning and added his own solution as well.

Previously, Shaq suggested lowering the rim on Angel Reese’s podcast, “I’m not saying to lower it to 9’5, but just a little bit, like 9’9.” And Coach Jason Brown had a response for this on his show, “Here’s the bottom line then, lower the rim and make it even a smaller ball and I’ve been saying this.” His co-host Darnell Smith disagreed and said, “the ball is already small as hell.” The star of the hit Netflix series Last Chance U even recalled the time when Shaquille O’Neal shared the same thoughts with Candace Parker a few years ago on the sets of TNT.

But Coach Brown was adamant on his suggestion, “Because it needs to happen.” According to him, the league is going “bankrupt, y’all are about to fu**ing strike because they don’t pay you.” He even added that the WNBA players are going to different countries to sustain their careers. “Because they don’t pay you here. Stop! Lower the rims homie, let’s watch you fu**ing  dunk,” added JB. His point regarding the financial aspect is not wrong. After all, even Shaquille O’Neal’s ‘niece’ admitted that her WNBA salary is not enough.

Angel Reese spoke, “I just hope you know the WNBA don’t pay my bills at all. I don’t even think that pays one of my bills.” And as per Shaq and Coach Brown, dunking more will solve the problem, which is why they want the league to lower the rim. Now that we are on this topic, let’s see what Shaq had to say on this.

Looking back at Shaquille O’Neal’s previous conversation with Candace Parker

During the live show on TNT, the 4x NBA Champion said something similar to the 3x WNBA Champion, “So, in beach volleyball, the women’s net is maybe half a inch lower. You think if we just lowered the rim so y’all can dunk like we dunk, that would give y’all more oomph than you already have.” Just like Angel Reese quickly shut down the debate, even Parker did the same.

She opined, “NO.” The two-time WNBA MVP said that dunks would become part of the game without lowering the rim. But according to reports from the Sports Business Journal, WNBA has 38 dunks in history, with Brittney Griner leading the charge with 27 alone.

In 2012, even Coach Geno Auriemma recommended the same. As we can see, the debate is not new, but the league has managed to register increased ratings without lowering the rim. The Wall Street Journal reported that viewership among girls within that demographic increased by 181% on ESPN through that point in the season. So, that’s why WNBA players like Angel Reese are not in favor of lowering the rim, as she disagreed with her ‘uncle’ Shaquille O’Neal.