NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal boasts a fortune to make most of his basketball peers weep with envy, but Angel Reese has one feather in her cap even he’s jealous of

There isn’t much Shaquille O’Neal failed to accomplish in basketball – but Angel Reese boasts one accolade that even has the NBA icon green with envy.

O’Neal, 52, was a core member of the Los Angeles Lakers team that completed the three-peat of NBA Championships between 2000 and 2002.

He was named NBA in each of those Finals series before adding a fourth ring with the Miami Heat in 2006, not to mention being named an NBA All-Star in 15 of his 20 seasons as a pro.

Yet fellow LSU alumnus Reese – who recently signed a new endorsement deal with digital wallet service Cash App – accomplished something O’Neal could not after taking the Tigers to an NCAA Championship in 2023.

And it’s something that will seemingly stick with the big man himself, albeit being immensely proud of his peer for doing what he could not.

“For her to be the first person to bring a championship, basketball-wise, to this arena, I named her the greatest athlete in LSU [history], and a lot of people got mad,” said Shaq on The Big Podcast.

“We get judged by championships. We don’t get judged by yards, or points or broken backboards.

So when I said that, I wasn’t trying to disrespect. I was just trying to give her props.

“Because she did something that we wanted to do, but we couldn’t. I was here for the parade, [more] jealous than a motherf*****. Looking at the people like, ‘damn, I wish I could have done that’.”

Maryland-born Reese, 22, recently announced a fresh deal with Cash App, which will sponsor her ‘Unapologetically Angel’ podcast.

It’s the latest in a long list of endorsement deals for the Chicago Sky forward, who recently finished second to Caitlin Clark in the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year vote.

The former LSU Tiger earns the vast majority of her money through sponsorships, which dwarf the £56,000 ($73,439) salary she received for her first year in the WNBA.

However, the pay landscape for professional women’s basketball players is expected to change in the near future.

Angel Reese honoured by LSU Tigers alongside Shaquille O'Neal

Shaq even appeared at Reese’s side when she was honoured by the LSU Tigers (Image: ESPN)
That’s after ESPN reported the WNBA players struck a fresh agreement earlier this year to take home a larger share of media rights money.

And those figures are only expected to keep rising following an influx in coverage and viewership over the last couple of seasons.