Shaquille O'Neal calls Caitlin Clark's treatment a rite of passage
O'Neal said Clark must withstand hard play, as a debate over WNBA officiating follows a one-game suspension for Alyssa Thomas.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
2 min read
Shaquille O'Neal's Caitlin Clark comments frame the Indiana Fever guard's rough treatment as a test faced by elite athletes. In an interview with CNBC Sport, the former NBA star said Clark must endure hard play and establish herself rather than expect special treatment.
O'Neal called the situation a “rite of passage” and said Clark should “toughen up” and absorb the hits without showing they affect her. He said he faced comparable treatment as a player and cited Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Magic Johnson and Muhammad Ali as other prominent athletes who encountered it, according to CNBC.
His remarks arrive amid continuing arguments about hard fouls involving Clark and the standard of WNBA officiating. O'Neal told CNBC that Clark would ultimately earn wider acceptance in the league by continuing to perform through that pressure.
What happened to Caitlin Clark and Alyssa Thomas?
The debate intensified after a June 24 play involving Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas. No foul was initially called when Thomas made contact with Clark's throat area, CNBC reported.
The WNBA later reviewed the sequence and suspended Thomas for one game, finding that she had recklessly made contact with her fist to Clark's throat area, according to CNBC. Clark addressed the issue on July 3, saying officiating needed to improve and that the league had to do a better job protecting players.
The episode has prompted competing views about what the physical plays mean. Three-time WNBA champion Diana Taurasi said at the CNBC Sport x Boardroom Game Plan Summit that those who consider the current game especially physical should look back at girls' Finals games from 15 or 16 years ago.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver took a different view of the broader dispute at a July Game Plan event. He said the issues surrounding Clark were not largely about officiating and said she had become “a bit of a political football,” according to CNBC.
What did O'Neal say Clark should do?
O'Neal's answer was to keep playing through the contact and let her results speak for themselves. He also suggested that players with comparable ability receive less attention, describing that disparity as “professional jealousy”; that was his interpretation, not an established explanation for opponents' conduct.
Clark has continued to set milestones, CNBC reported. She reached 1,000 points, 250 rebounds and 250 assists in 54 career games, beating Taurasi's previous 62-game mark, and scored a career-high 45 points against the Seattle Storm on July 17.
The central disagreement remains whether the incidents are routine physical competition, a problem for officiating and player safety, or both. O'Neal's position is that Clark will have to meet the challenge on the court.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.