“Just Trying To Get You $300 Million”: Shaquille O’Neal Not So Subtly Pushes A’ja Wilson To Accept WNBA Would Improve With Lower Rims

Shaquille O’Neal’s controversial take on lowering the rim in the WNBA has garnered a strong response from three-time MVP, A’ja Wilson. In October, Shaq appeared on Angel Reese’s podcast and suggested that the WNBA should lower the rim so that the athletes in the league could dunk more frequently. This would make the game more marketable to fans, according to the four-time NBA Champion.

He took to his main Instagram page and pushed this agenda of his yet again. Preaching the same sentiment, Shaq knows WNBA ratings would skyrocket if dunks were a thing of the norm in the league. “Just trying to get you that $300 million you deserve,” said O’Neal while defending his take.

To play ‘devil’s advocate’ here, there doesn’t seem to be any malicious intent from Shaq’s side here. He isn’t trying to disrespect WNBA athletes and is rather shining a light on what he deems to be a gap in skill. However, it is very easy to see the other side of it all as well as W players want to be treated with the same level of respect as NBA athletes and rightfully so.

Shaq’s IG post was in response to what A’ja recently said about his take. Wilson appeared on Jalen Brunson’s The Roommates Show, where she was asked for her thoughts on the matter. The 28-year-old wasn’t happy with Shaq’s suggestion, which she felt undermined the WNBA athletes.

She asked the podcast’s panel, “What is it gonna do? Honestly, if you want it, what is it gonna do for us?” Brunson jumped in to clarify that it “wouldn’t do that much,” but it’s just a suggestion to maybe improve the quality of the game in some aspects. However, everyone seems to be missing the most important point.

Wilson said, “I would much rather just gear my offseason to ‘Okay, verti[cal] maxing it out, let’s focus on this jumping. Versus lowering it an inch? That could change all of our shots. Do y’all not understand that?”

Shaq shared a snippet of her response on his Instagram story.

There’s a very famous story of the late, great Kobe Bryant, told by Gerald Henderson, where the Mamba knew the rim was a quarter of an inch off from its usual place. He realized this after he kept missing shots during practice. This 2009 incident shows that athletes have developed their game for decades around the standard size of 10 feet.

If the rim is lowered, that would require league-wide shot adjustments for a prolonged period.

So, lowering the rim might get Shaq what he wants, to see Caitlin Clark dunk, but in return, it can potentially damage the effectiveness of her long-range shots. Shaq has, however, suggested the same thing repeatedly over the years.

Shaq’s suggestion for the WNBA

Shaq undoubtedly has the best interest of the league in his heart. The Lakers legend was known for his physical game and his dunks back in his day. So, understandably, he wishes to see the same in the WNBA. During an appearance on Drink Champs last year, he made the same suggestion.

Shaq said, “So, the only thing missing from the WNBA compared to the NBA game is the dunk. So, imagine, I’m not saying they should lower it nine feet, but just so they can dunk. Just a little bit. So, I think if they did that, it would make the game more exciting.”

He used beach volleyball’s example where the net is lowered for the women’s game to make it more competitive. Whether we’ll ever see this change in the WNBA or not, only time will tell. For now, Wilson seems to have shut down all the requests.