Shaquille O'Neal Caitlin Clark
Image credit - Flickr/Sacramento State/Christian Navarro/John McClellan
Caitlin Clark just turned in one of her best nights of the season. She dropped 37 points on 13-of-24 shooting. She drilled a career-high eight three-pointers and dished 10 assists as the Fever routed the Chicago Sky 113-90 on Sunday. She did it all while brushing off contact from Sky guard DiJonai Carrington, who bumped her hard right after one of those triples.
Shaquille O’Neal watched that same pattern play out all season. He thinks Clark needs a different response. Speaking to Fox News Digital, the Hall of Famer said Clark should start fighting back against the physical treatment instead of absorbing it quietly.
“There’s girls that are going, ‘You don’t talk about me like that, you talk about her.’ You gotta take advantage of that opportunity,” O’Neal said.
He framed the rough treatment as something every rising star eventually faces, not something unique to Clark. “But this is what we call rites of passage,” O’Neal continued. “*We don’t just let youngsters come in and take over because they’re getting all the props from the media.*”
The NBA legend then pointed to a teammate as the blueprint for how Clark should respond. “*Angel’s throwing ‘bows, talking smack, letting everyone know, ‘I’m not scared,’” O’Neal said. “Caitlin’s probably gotta do a little more of that.*”
The comparison to Angel Reese was pointed. Reese has built a reputation for meeting contact with contact. O’Neal clearly wants Clark to borrow some of that edge.
None of this is new territory for Clark. She has absorbed hard fouls all season. That includes a June incident where she was struck in the throat, a play the league later reviewed and punished with a suspension. Through it all, she has mostly kept her focus on the scoreboard rather than the officials or her opponents.
O’Neal has made a similar point before. He has compared Clark’s situation to what he watched happen to Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Magic Johnson early in their careers. He has said he took plenty of hard fouls himself across 19 NBA seasons. He views the extra physicality around Clark as a mix of jealousy and a test every incoming star has to pass.
Caitlin Clark Keeps Answering With Her Game Instead
Sunday fit that pattern exactly. Carrington accused Clark of flopping in the second quarter. Clark answered on the very next possession with a step-back three. The exchange got heated in the moment, but Clark let the box score do the talking by the final buzzer.
She is not lacking for support elsewhere. LeBron James reposted highlights from the win and offered a two-word reaction, “*BANG BANG.*” Clark has previously credited him with checking in during her injury recovery earlier this year. That kind of backing suggests O’Neal’s advice is less about toughness Clark lacks and more about a style he thinks would silence critics faster.
Lebron James & Tyrese Haliburton both posted about Caitlin Clark’s masterclass against the Chicago Sky. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/aG0zR35lRj
— luna (@lunasf4vs) August 24, 2026
Whether Clark takes that advice is another question. Her approach so far has been letting her production speak while ignoring the extra contact. That has coincided with a 25-14 record and a Fever team trending in the right direction. Sunday’s win moved Indiana further up the standings and gave Clark another statement game against a rival that keeps testing her physically.
O’Neal believes the physical pushback will fade once the league fully accepts her as its best player. He compares it to a door that eventually opens for anyone who keeps proving they belong. Until then, every hard foul will keep getting measured against how she chooses to respond, and O’Neal has made his preference clear.