{"id":83802,"date":"2025-07-18T12:31:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T16:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/?p=83802"},"modified":"2025-07-31T12:33:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T16:33:17","slug":"shaquille-oneal-has-drawn-a-clear-line-in-the-sand-for-robert-griffin-iii-after-his-controversial-angel-reese-repost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/shaquille-oneal-has-drawn-a-clear-line-in-the-sand-for-robert-griffin-iii-after-his-controversial-angel-reese-repost\/83802\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaquille O\u2019Neal has drawn a clear line in the sand for Robert Griffin III after his controversial Angel Reese repost"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Shaquille O\u2019Neal has never been one to hold back, and in his recent appearance on the <em>Off the Record<\/em> podcast, he delivered a blunt and fiercely protective message aimed at former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III. The tension stems from a controversial social media post by Griffin that included a racially offensive image comparing WNBA star Angel Reese to a monkey on a fake video game cover. The post was widely condemned across social media, and Shaq, who has both a personal and professional connection to Reese, made it crystal clear he wouldn\u2019t let it slide.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Neal\u2019s reaction wasn\u2019t just emotional\u2014it was personal. Reese, like Shaq, played at LSU, and beyond their alma mater bond, he recently signed her to Reebok under his leadership. So when he saw Griffin\u2019s repeated jabs at Reese, this latest one crossing a particularly offensive line, he responded with unfiltered fury. \u201cTweet another monkey post about my girl Angel Reese, and I\u2019m going to punch you in your f\u2013king face,\u201d he said, not mincing a single word. It wasn\u2019t just about defending a player; it was about defending a young Black woman from degrading attacks that carry historically violent connotations.<\/p>\n<p>Shaq also didn\u2019t hesitate to challenge Griffin\u2019s credibility when it comes to critiquing women\u2019s basketball. He said plainly that RG3 lacks the \u201cG14 classification\u201d to speak on the subject, a phrase he\u2019s used before to signify earned authority. \u201cI would respect it more if Lisa Leslie said it. That\u2019s their category. Stay out of them people\u2019s category,\u201d he added, emphasizing that Griffin should step back from commentary that disrespects women athletes\u2014especially when that commentary veers into harmful territory.<\/p>\n<p>The controversy deepened with a separate post from Griffin on July 10, where he claimed \u201csources\u201d told him that Angel Reese \u201chates\u201d fellow WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark. Though Griffin insisted the comment was rooted in basketball analysis, Shaq dismissed it as opportunistic and unnecessary. \u201cIt\u2019s a shame that all the stuff you did in your life, you\u2019re going to be remembered for your podcast,\u201d Shaq said, taking aim at Griffin\u2019s post-playing career persona. He pushed back hard against the idea that stirring drama for clicks should come at the expense of real athletes and real legacies. \u201cLet it go. So what? She hates her. So what? I hate you now for messing with her. Now what? Say something about me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shaq\u2019s defense of Reese wasn\u2019t just protective\u2014it was a reminder of the deep-rooted racism that still lingers in sports commentary and how necessary it is for powerful voices to call it out. His message was loud, unapologetic, and impossible to ignore: disrespect Angel Reese again, and you\u2019ll have to deal with him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shaquille O\u2019Neal has never been one to hold back, and in his recent appearance on the Off the Record podcast,\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":83806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[239],"class_list":["post-83802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-news","tag-shaquille-oneal"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}