Shaquille O’Neal defends Angel Reese’s taunt, goes after Barstool Sports founder

Following LSU’s win over Iowa within the NCAA ladies’s match championship recreation, the web has been buzzing about Angel Reese, who’s dealing with backlash for her John Cena “you can’t see me” taunt at Hawkeyes phenom Caitlin Clark.

The New York Post studies Dave Portnoy, the controversial founding father of Barstool Sports accused of sexual misconduct, referred to as Reese “a classless piece of s – t,” on Twitter, and included a video of her on-court gesture.

Jemele Hill — a contributor for The Atlantic – had no drawback choosing a struggle with Portnoy over the Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark drama.

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Hill, who departed ESPN in 2018 — quote-tweeted Portnoy’s publish on Monday, writing: “So I’m going to pick this fight. F – k you.”

Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal additionally replied to Portnoy with: “and so is your mother.”

The Barstool character didn’t again down from his remarks.

“I’m in a pretty big full-fledged internet war,” Portnoy stated, including that he wager on Iowa to win.

“That bet is a major part of probably what transpired and I can explain,” Portnoy stated.

“ … I call her ‘a classless piece of s – t’ and off we go … It is classless by the way … If someone does something that I don’t like in a game I’m watching, I tweet.”

Portnoy defined that it wasn’t Reese’s trash discuss that he had a difficulty with.

“I think you’re basically lying if you’re saying what Caitlin Clark did and Angel Reese did are the same thing — they’re not,” Portnoy stated.

“I like trash talking. If you hit a big shot in the moment or you’re talking s – t in the moment, back and forth … I don’t care. That is not what Angel Reese did.”

Portnoy’s argument was that Reese “followed” Clark after the sport was over to taunt her.

“Find me one example in any sport, of anybody, after somebody wins a championship, confetti coming down, not in a close game — and find me a player stalking the best player on the other team,” Portnoy stated.

“It is not sexist. It does not happen. If a man did that, he would be called ‘classless’ and nobody would be saying anything.”

In a separate tweet, Portnoy denied that the difficulty, at its core, is about race.

O’Neal has been vocal in his defence of Reese, telling former ESPN anchor Keith Olberman to “leave Angel Reese alone”, after Olberman referred to as Reese a “f***ing idiot” for her behaviour.

“Shut your dumb a– up, leave Angel Reese alone,” Shaq wrote in a tweet.

Olberman later apologised, calling his remarks “uninformed”.

On Monday, Stephen A. Smith stated on ESPN’s “First Take” that he believes there’s a racial element to the state of affairs.

Reese’s “you can’t see me” celebration was the identical gesture Clark made in Iowa’s Elite Eight win over Louisville.

Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey stated throughout an look on the “Today” present Monday that Reese will not be going to apologise — and that trash-talk is a part of who she is as a participant.

“[Reese] was upset because they [the public] attack her and they didn’t attack Caitlin and things like that,” Mulkey stated.

“Listen, that child is a beast on the boards rebounding. That child just won a national championship. She’s not afraid of social media. That is who Angel is.”

After the win, Reese stated she acquired extra criticism than different gamers as a result of she didn’t match a “narrative”.

“All year, I was critiqued about who I was. The narrative — I don’t fit the narrative. I don’t fit the box you all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. You told me that all year,” Reese stated.

“But when other people do it — you all don’t say nothing. So, this is for the girls that look like me. That’s going to speak up for what they believe in.

“It’s unapologetically you, and that’s what I did it for tonight. It was bigger than me tonight. It was bigger than me. Twitter is going to go in a rage every time.

“And, I mean, I’m happy. I feel like I helped grow women’s basketball this year. I’m super happy and excited. I’m looking forward to celebrating and then next season.”

This article initially appeared within the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.