Shaquille O’Neal Is Hyped About ‘Niece’ Angel Reese Leaving Caitlin Clark Behind in Rookie Rankings

Prateek Singh | 08/06/2024
Shaquille O'Neal Is Hyped About 'Niece' Angel Reese Leaving Caitlin Clark Behind in Rookie Rankings

For the past few years, Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark have been arch-enemies on the court. Even in the big league now, Reese and Clark are competing to be the best rookie this year. While their fans often debate their position in the league, Shaquille O’Neal has had a clear stance. Since Reese addresses him as her uncle, Shaq wants his niece to win.

Recently, the big fella shared a post on his Instagram story to celebrate that his niece has a clear lead over CC in the rookie rankings.

Family over everything has been Shaq’s motto in life. And when the conversation is about new talent in basketball, Shaq always roots for his own. ESPN recently released a list of best WNBA rookies, where Reese is ranked significantly higher than Clark. The big fella seemingly showed his appreciation to his niece for maintaining a lead over the Fever rookie.

ESPN ranked nine rookies in order, Cameron Brink, Angel Reese, Kate Martin, Rickea Jackson, Julie Vanloo, Caitlin Clark, Aaliyah Edwards, Sevgi Uzun, and Leoni Fiebich. Being ranked above Clark is surely a reason to celebrate for Reese but she still has a long way to go because Brink holds her number one spot.

As for their performances this season, CC has a clear lead above them but has failed to convert those performances into wins for her team. According to ESPN, so far this season, Clark is averaging 15.6 points per game with 6.4 assists, and 5.1 rebounds. Reese is averaging 10.8 points per game with nine rebounds and five offensive rebounds per game.

Brink isn’t so far behind them in stats as she is averaging eight points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks, per game. Despite the ESPN list, the Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark rivalry is an ongoing battle, which will only become more interesting.

Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark are the modern-day Magic Johnson and Larry Bird

Even though putting the weight of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s rivalry, on what Reese and Clark have ongoing, is too much, they have shown the same dedication to this warfare. Both are extremely polarizing figures in the league right now and they’re certainly unstoppable in their quest to be the best.

Expanding the limits of the rivalry further, Reese recently clapped back at people who give Clark all the credit for popularizing the league. Even then, Reese had the support of her uncle Shaq, who shared her quote on his Instagram story.

As per ESPN, Reese told the reporters, “The reason why we’re watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person. It’s because of me too.” At the end of the day, their rivalry will be great for the sport because both of them will push each other to become better every day. So, there won’t be a loser in this when it’s all said and done.

Post Edited By: Hitesh Nigam
Angel Reese Caitlin Clark Cameron Brink Shaquille O'Neal

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Prateek Singh

Prateek is a Senior NBA Writer for The SportsRush. He has over 900 published articles under his name. Prateek merged his passion for writing and his love for the sport of basketball to make a career out of it. Other than basketball, he is also an ardent follower of the UFC and soccer. Apart from the world of sports, he has followed hip-hop religiously and often writes about the origins, evolution, and the biggest stars of the music genre.

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