INSTANT REGRET! Caitlin Clark BREAKS DiJonai Carrington after TAUNTING! Lexie Hull SHOWS OUT! WNBA

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Shaq dismantled Charles Barkley’s rant about the WNBA being petty with Caitlin Clark

Side by side photos of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. (Photos by David Butler II, Kyle Terada and Grace Smith/USA SPORTS Network)
Shaquille O’Neal has avidly supported his friend and colleague, Charles Barkley. But he disagrees with Barkley’s assessment of Caitlin Clark’s WNBA transition.

Barkley made waves early this year when he called out the league for being “petty” towards Clark. His words eventually reached high-profile players like A’ja Wilson and even fellow rookie Angel Reese. Wilson took the high road when asked to comment at the time, but Reese seemingly called Barkley out.

The narrative that WNBA players are “jealous” of Caitlin has continued throughout the season. But Shaq isn’t quite buying it. Per Lindsay Schnell, here’s what he recently shared with USA TODAY:

“There’s envious jealousy. There’s professional jealousy,” O’Neal said. “Sure, there’s a lot of people who are professionally jealous. I am. I’m professionally jealous of a lot of people. I’m professionally jealous of Steph [Curry]. He makes $60 million. But hey, that’s life.”

“You gotta also understand that we’re not just going to give it to you because everybody else is giving it to you…Yeah, you’re great, but you ain’t that great yet. Calm down. We still got Diana Taurasi. We still got A’ja Wilson, if you’re gonna give [Caitlin] props make sure our girls that are dominating in this league get the same props.”

“Loudmouths like Chuck are talking about hating — it’s not hating…As good as Caitlin Clark is, we’ve had a lot of young ladies who have been doing good [before] and not getting props. People like props, and they want to feel good when you’re talking about [their league]…it’s not hating. Everybody has to wait their turn.”

Angel Reese uses social media to explain wrist injury that will sideline her the rest of WNBA season

Angel Reese took to social media to explain her season-ending injury — a small crack in a bone in her wrist that will require surgery on Tuesday.

“I fell on my hand when I got the and-one, when I fell back (and) fell on my hand and it is a small crack in my bone,” Reese said in a video posted to her TikTok late Sunday night.

“Basically, the doctors told me that I could either not get surgery or have surgery. The risk of not having surgery – I could literally have arthritis at 22 years old. That wasn’t an option. The bone could literally crack and completely shatter. Right now, it’s like a hairline… They’re going to put a small screw in it. And I wasn’t going for it getting any bigger.”

Reese said she’ll be in a hard cast for four weeks and then a soft cast for two.

“Long term, I literally could have not played anymore because this is a very hard place to heal because the blood flow is little to none,” she said while pointing to her right wrist, which was wrapped in a black soft cast.

Reese, the No. 7 pick in the draft, finished the season averaging 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds. It’s the highest rebound average in the history of the WNBA. Reese also set the rookie record with 26 double-doubles — her last coming in a 92-78 win over Los Angeles on Friday night.

Reese has been intertwined with Indiana rookie Caitlin Clark since the pair faced off in the NCAA championship two years ago. Reese’s LSU squad came away with the win. They have lifted the WNBA in television ratings, attendance and merchandise sale this season.

“It’s definitely sad whenever you see anyone go down with an injury, especially people that you came into this league with,” Clark said Sunday. “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. She just doesn’t stop working. I thought she had a tremendous year. I thought she came into the league and really did what she’s done well her entire career as long as I’ve known her. It’s really devastating. It’s never anything you want to see from a player.”

Reese said she’ll continue to train and participate in off-court ventures during her recovery.

“So in the meantime, I will just be in my hard cast for four weeks… during that time I’ll just be lifting, running, conditioning, shooting with my off hand, dribbling and doing stuff with my off hand, working on my nutrition,” Reese said. “(I’ll be) modeling still, podcasting still, being a baddie still… and supporting my teammates from a far. Well, not a far but on the bench… I still believe we’re still making the playoffs.”

Reese responded in the video to social media suggestions that she was pregnant, saying it was untrue.

“That was never a thing… I want to make this crystal clear, I don’t have a man to have kids, I don’t have a ring to have kids I am 22 with no kids. And I’m not coming to kids,” she said. “So that’s not going to be a thing anytime soon. I just want y’all to know that. because I know y’all like to have some clicks.”

Chicago is currently in the final playoff position, one game ahead of Atlanta. The Sky face Washington on Wednesday.