Louisana State University has produced 51 NBA players, including Hall of Famers Shaquille O’Neal, Bot Pettit, and Pete Maravich, and cult heroes like Glen Davis and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. It is also the alma mater of four-time WNBA champion and women’s basketball icon Seimone Augustus. Despite producing a laundry of list greats, O’Neal believes Angel Reese is the greatest athlete in the university’s history.
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He made the controversial statement after LSU’s win over Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2023 NCAA Championship Game. Despite the backlash, he doubled down on it on the latest episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, which was filmed at the university’s campus. He was joined by LSU alumnus and NFL running back, Leonard Fournette, as they discussed their love for the Pelican State, and its newest star, Reese.
The four-time NBA champion brought up the subject of the greatest athlete in the university’s history. He explained that the center’s championship win in 2023 cemented her status as LSU’s GOAT athlete. O’Neal said,
“For her to be the first person to bring the championship, basketball-wise, to this arena, I named her the greatest athlete in LSU and a lot of people got mad… We get judged by championships. We don’t get judged by yards or points or broken backboards. So what I said then, I wasn’t trying to disrespect. I was just trying to give her props cause she did something that we wanted to do but we couldn’t.”
The Hall of Famer, who’s usually pretty defensive about his legacy, dismissed Fournette when he named the Lakers icon and other LSU greats as a counterpoint to his claim about Reese. He responded,
“You can’t say Pete [Maravich], you can’t say Shaq – she won. You know how I know she won? I was here for the parade.”
He added that he was more “jealous than a motherf****er” about not experiencing the parade and accompanying tailgate parties during his stint at LSU. However, he has put his feelings aside and heralded Reese as the program’s GOAT for helping the Tigers lift the NCAA championship in 2023. O’Neal was so impressed with the center that he handed her a massive NIL deal.
Angel Reese was Shaquille O’Neal’s first signing at Reebok
In 2023, the four-time NBA champion was named the President of Reebok’s revamped basketball division and one of his first acts was teasing that his first signing for the company would be a ‘GOAT.’ Soon, the brand announced that Angel Reese had signed on as one of its ambassadors. Explaining why he was keen on landing the center, O’Neal said,
“When I took over Reebok and we wanted to do something with women’s sports, she was the first and she was the only [person I thought of].“
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In August 2024, the company unveiled Reese’s first signature shoe and collection “Reebok by Angel.” She’s the first rookie from her stacked draft class to get their own shoe, another feather in the young center’s cap.
