Shaquille O'Neal's truth regarding Angel Reese's importance to the Chicago Sky was on full display on Wednesday.
In the Sky's latest matchup with the Mystics, Chicago was thoroughly outplayed by Washington, losing by 31 points in front of a home crowd. The Sky only had three players score in double figures, with only two other players scoring more than five points, while the Mystics had eight players score more than five points in the game.
Though the game wasn't necessarily close, it was clear the Sky needed the help of Reese, the rookie star forward . Against the Mystics, it appeared as if Chicago was missing the engine on the offensive end that kept possessions alive as well as a defensive presence in the paint.
Without a presence like Reese patrolling the paint and helping keep the ball alive, the Sky struggled . And with four games left against teams either all in the playoffs or battling for playoff position, Chicago's predicament without Reese is more perilous.
That said, teams that lose their superstar often see their season hopes tank, much like what is happening with the Sky. And Chicago's decline shows just how important Reese is to the team's hopes. Also, O'Neal claimed she was a star and believed she could win Rookie of the Year over Caitlin Clark, his biases aside, and how the rivalry between the two could only help the league.
"She made the comment the other day that she was born like this, and it's true," he said on ESPN. "Her mentality, the way she plays, no-nonsense, going to say what is on her mind, going to play the way she plays, and I love that about her.
"But Caitlin and Angel, because of social media and other media outlets there, really brought the game where it should have been 10 years ago. So I'm really an advocate for women's basketball. They always play hard, their fundamentals are great... but I'm going to give it to Angel Reese right now."
O'Neal has supported Reese throughout her rise from college basketball into the WNBA, having always been aware of the superstar she would become. The Lakers legend walked out alongside Reese - wearing a t-shirt with her name on - during LSU's women's basketball senior day ceremony earlier this year. O'Neal even said the emerging star is "probably the greatest athlete to come out of LSU sports - male and female".
Although Reese is out for the season , her loss isn't just missed by the Sky. Clark made it a point to shoutout the star forward after hearing she would be undergoing surgery, cutting her historic season short just a handful of games before the end of the season.
Speaking to reporters before the Indiana Fever's game against the Atlanta Dream, Clark expressed her disappointment in seeing two of the biggest rookie stars see their season cut short because of injuries. "It's obviously, definitely sad, anytime you see anybody go down with an injury, especially people that you came into this league with, whether it was Cam [Brink], whether it was Angel, and especially Angel," Clark said.
"Like, you want to see her finish out this year, obviously, she's had a historic year, and she's done some incredible things. For me, getting to play against her, her motor is up there, if not the best in the league, like she just doesn't stop working.
"So you know, congratulations to her, I thought she had a tremendous year, and I thought she came to the league and really did what she's done well her entire career, as long as I've known her. So it's definitely devastating. That's never anything you want to see from a player and then obviously, our rookie class has kind of been hit with a few more injuries than you would have liked to see."
Despite missing the rest of the season, Reese is still doing her part to help the Sky. Though her wrist is heavily bandaged , she still finds time to connect with her teammates, giving them words of encouragement and trying to rile them up, showing what kind of leader she is.
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