A'ja Wilson Sets Record Straight on Controversial WNBA Dunking Narrative
NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal frustrated many members of the women's basketball community with a comment he made about the WNBA potentially lowering its rims during an October 2024 episode of Angel Reese's Unapologetically Angel podcast.
"A pretty girl dunking on the rim? I'm watching that all day," Shaq said to Reese, who laughed out loud and then refuted his claim. This prompted Shaq to add, "It's about seeing stuff you ain't supposed to see... Why [do] you think people love Caitlin Clark? Besides her skills?"
"She can shoot threes from logo," Reese responded.
"We never seen that before. That's my point," Shaq continued. "She's doing stuff we've never seen before. [I've] never seen nobody [shoot logo threes] on a consistent basis. There's a lot of girls in the WNBA that have done it in spurts, but that game I'm watching y'all in the Final Four, I'm like 'Damn.'"
"So I'm telling you, if you just lower [WNBA rims] like this," Shaq later said while gesturing with his fingers being about an inch apart.
Shaq used Caitlin Clark as an example for why the #WNBA should lower its rims on @angelreeseshow pic.twitter.com/vHn6ctpc4N
— Grant Young (@GrvntYoung) October 24, 2024
A'ja Wilson Addresses Dunking in WNBA Narrative With Clear Message
Shaq isn't the first or the last person to suggest the WNBA would be more entertaining if players were able to dunk. However, this is not a sentiment that the actual players tend to agree with.
And Las Vegas Aces superstar and two-time reigning WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson offered a strong response when asked whether she thinks too much is made of the dunking narrative during her November 27 appearance on Hot Ones.
"Yeah," Wilson responded while grappling with a spicy wing she had just eaten. "Dunking is cool, don't get me wrong. Dunking is cool."
Wilson then needed a moment to gather herself in the wake of the chicken wing, then said, "Dunking it cool, it's amazing. I've seen dunking a lot... But maybe it's just not a part of our game. And I really wish people could understand that, and cherish... But I wish they could really cherish the other things we bring to the game, that maybe just is kind of flashy as dunking.
"I play with an amazing point guard in Chelsea Gray, and some of her passes are passes I've never seen before on any stage," she continued. "I wish people could get away from that, stop talking about lowering rims. All that shenanigans. And just kind of focus on the craft we have in our league right now."
Perhaps Shaq (who has also appeared on Hot Ones) will watch Wilson's episode and take her message to heart.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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