Shaquille O’Neal believes more dunks are the key to growing player salaries in the WNBA, but Chicago Sky star Angel Reese is not convinced it would make any difference
NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal has told Angel Reese the WNBA needs to reduce the height of the rim in a controversial pitch to increase player salaries.
The WNBA has exploded in popularity this year thanks to superstar rookies like Reese and Caitlin Clark, but its players’ salaries pale in comparison to their NBA counterparts. Reese and Clark have become mainstream stars as a result of their exploits on the court, but Chicago Sky standout Reese’s four-year rookie contract is worth a total of $324,000 – less than a third of the value of the minimum one-year NBA salary.
Former Los Angeles Lakers star O’Neal was a guest on Reese’s “Unapologetically Angel” podcast these week, and he believes the biggest barrier to growing the WNBA’s financial value is its players’ ability to dunk. Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, Brittney Griner and Jonquel Jones are among players who have pulled off dunks in games.
But O’Neal believes they are too rare and the rim should be lowered to make them more common, although he admits “nobody is going to like my solution.”
“So, let me explain why I came up with this solution first,” the 52-year-old said. “In women’s beach volleyball, let’s just say the net is 10 (feet), for women it’s lower just a little bit. I’m not saying lowering it to 9.5, just 9.9.”
He added that the major difference between the NBA and WNBA is the amount of dunking. Though, in the WNBA game, players like Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, Brittney Griner and Jonquel Jones have all dunked in a game.
O’Neal believes more dunks would make the WNBA a better product (
Image:
Unapologetically Angel/YouTube)
“Watch, we got shooters, y’all got shooters, oh guys got some handles, girls got some handles, oh we got this, we got that, we got s— talkers, we got brawls, the only thing that’s missing is the dunk.
“Bro, first of all, I like how y’all are starting to get into fashion. Bro, a pretty girl dunking on the rim, I’m watching that all day.”
Reese, however, does not believe more dunks would make much difference to salaries in the WNBA. “I feel like it still wouldn’t be good enough, it’s never good enough,” she countered. “People always disrespect women regardless; they are always going to not give us the same value as a man. So I don’t think that.”
While Reese’s salary does not reflect her value to the WNBA, she has bolstered her lucrative partnership with Reebok. O’Neal is a shareholder in the brand, and they announced on her podcast that Reese will release a signature shoe in 2026.
“We’ve already kicked off the design process, and it means the world to me to have Reebok’s full support and confidence with this shoe and overall partnership,” she said. “A signature shoe has always been a dream of mine, and I want all the young girls out there to remember that anything is possible.”