NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal shared his thoughts on his college experience with the LSU Tigers on last week’s episode of “The Big Podcast with Shaq.”
Despite O’Neal having immense success in Baton Rouge from 1989-92, he admitted that he’s jealous of former LSU women’s basketball star Angel Reese.
While O’Neal played for the Tigers, he averaged 21.6 points, 13.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists. He was a two-time SEC Player of the Year, two-time consensus All-American and the 1990-91 AP Player of the Year.
While those are incredible feats, O’Neal was short of delivering a championship at LSU, which is something that Reese recently accomplished.
Reese and the LSU Tigers won the national title in 2023 after defeating Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85. After their victory, the LSU had a parade for the title team.
“For her to be the first person to bring a championship, basketball-wise, to this arena, I named her the greatest athlete in LSU,” O’Neal said. “She did something that we wanted to do but we couldn’t. I was here for the parade, jealous than a m******. Looking at the people like damn, I wish I could have done that.”
Reese played for the LSU Tigers from 2022-24 after transferring from the Maryland Terrapins. During her collegiate career, the 6-foot-3 forward averaged 18.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.
She was named the 2023-24 SEC Player of the Year, a three-time AP All-American and two-time All-SEC player.
Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
Reese translated that success to the WNBA in 2024. The Chicago Sky star averaged 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game during her rookie season.
She led the league in average rebounds and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.