“How Was It Not ‘Classless’ When Caitlin Clark Did It?!”: Shaquille O’Neal Defends Angel Reese Against ‘Racist’ Remarks After NCAA Final

The incredible March Madness run has come to an end, at least for Women’s Basketball. Iowa and LSU battled it out in the NCAA Championship Game earlier today, and we were given a new winner of the crown. LSU are your 2023 NCAA Champions! We saw a great game by both sides, with Caitlin Clark leading Iowa, and Angel Reese doing the same for LSU.

In the end, it was Reese and the Tigers who had the last laugh, winning the contest 102-85.

Angel Reese had 15 points, 10 rebounds(6 OReb), 5 assists, 3 steals, and a block. She was doing it all for her team, and it helped her win a National Championship. As soon as she knew it was game over, she pulled out Stephen Curry‘s ‘ring me‘ followed by John Cena‘s ‘You can’t see me!”

ANGEL REESE TO CAITLIN CLARK 😳 pic.twitter.com/2NY0CEzwJ3

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 2, 2023

This celebration raised a lot of eyebrows and people criticized Angel for being ‘classless’. However, Shaquille O’Neal was not having any of it!

Shaquille O’Neal stands up for Angel Reese amidst racist remarks

This celebration by Angel Reese raised a lot of eyebrows. People did not like what they saw, and started calling Angel names. One, it’s sports, emotions run high, and when you accomplish something of the scale she just did, celebrating is valid. Two, Caitlin Clark did it against Louisville, and all she received back then was praise and people calling her ‘cold.’

When Caitlin Clark taunted Louisville in the Elite Eight, she was praised.

When Angel Reese, taunted Caitlin Clark with the exact same gesture in the championship, she was called classless.

I wonder whyTE? pic.twitter.com/8WARkZH7SB

— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) April 3, 2023

This did not sit right with Shaquille O’Neal. He had shared a ton of stories about LSU winning and Angel’s celebration already. However, now he took it to his stories to share a reel defending Reese from such racist remarks.

Shaq standing up for Angel Reese! Love to see it! pic.twitter.com/LbCHdoIPFp

— DubNation(2022 NBA CHAMPIONS) (@dubs3000) April 3, 2023

This is the reel in his stories.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Anthony C. Hall (@anthonyhall_chicago)

There are a ton of people online supporting Angel against these racist remarks as well! One of them is none other than NBA’s all-time great, LeBron James.

LeBron James stood up for Angel

Racism is like a plague spread in society. We can try to eradicate it, but it never stops truly. We saw a big example of the same today. It was the NCAA Championship Game, and somehow people on the internet found a way to make it about the race of two 20-year-old girls.

LeBron James couldn’t sit silently and watch it, as he shared a few tweets supporting Angel. He also retweeted quite a few tweets about the same.

If you praised Caitlin Clark as competitive, fiery, and passionate for doing the “You can’t See me” celebration and are criticizing Angel Reese for the same we already know!!

— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) April 2, 2023

If it wasn’t “classless” when Caitlin Clark did it, don’t call it classless when Angel Reese does it. Let the women compete, it’s sports!! pic.twitter.com/lJpS1NId68

— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) April 2, 2023

Let’s just hope that people stop all of this, and remember sports are supposed to be a safe haven. Filling notions and limiting what these girls can do is not going to benefit anyone, but it will deprive us of witnessing the greatness they can accomplish!