The end is surely nigh.
Shaquille O’Neal made a free throw.
‘The Big Aristotle’ is a four-time NBA champion and one of the greatest and most dominant big men in league history.
Shaq was also a notoriously bad free throw shooter, making a lowly 52.7 percent of his shots from the stripe for his career.
With that in mind, you could understand why WNBA sensation Angel Reese felt confident in making a $100,000 bet that O’Neal couldn’t bank one in from 15ft.
“$100,000 if you make this shot,” Reese said to Shaq in footage she uploaded to social media last year as they stood inside a court.
A grinning Shaq then landed a free throw, prompting a loud scream from Reese.
“I guess I owe him 100K,” she wrote in text overlaying the video, along with a crying emoji.
Reese signed a four-year, $324,383 deal with the Chicago Sky in 2024 after being selected with the seventh overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
Her average annual salary is listed at $81,096, so she basically bet more than $20,000 of her rookie salary on Shaq missing, although it’s highly unlikely he ever took it off her given Shaq has a $500m business portfolio.
The basketball duo have become close over recent years due to their strong ties to LSU, which they both attended.
The 7ft 1in Los Angeles Lakers icon became a mentor to Reese back when she was in college going head-to-head with Caitlin Clark.
“[Angel is] like a daughter to me,” O’Neal shared, via the WNBA’s X account.
Shaq recently stepped in to protect Reese amid a public spat with former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III.
After it was announced that the Chicago Sky star was the cover athlete for NBA 2K26’s WNBA Edition, RGIII reposted a tweet of someone who had Photoshopped the cover depicting Reese as a monkey.
This ignited controversy because although his words were condemning racism towards the former LSU star, him reposting the tweet had the opposite effect, and instead amplified the reach of the abhorrent post.
RGIII also used his platform to fuel the notion that there is a huge rivalry between Reese and Clark.
This ultimately sparked a feud between him and Reese, with the 23-year-old clapping back – albeit indirectly – writing: “lying on this app when everybody know the first and last name of everybody in my circle for clout is nastyyyy work.”
Shaq also took extreme exception to RGIII’s comments, saying he was going to ‘punch him in the face’ if he continues to go at Reese.
The three-time NBA Finals MVP studied business at Louisiana State University. During his time with the Tigers, he was a two-time All-American, two-time SEC Player of the Year, and NCAA men’s basketball player of the year in 1991.
‘The Big Diesel’ left college early and was drafted No. 1 overall by the Orlando Magic in the 1992 NBA Draft.
The 15-time All-Star enjoyed a Hall of Fame career but his Achilles heel was always free throw shooting.
O’Neal’s free throw percentage peaked at 62.2 percent in the 2002–03 season, but even that was well below the league average.
Teams quickly cottoned onto his weakness and implemented the ‘Hack-a-Shaq’ strategy.
The clever defensive play saw players commit personal fouls throughout the game against selected opponents –like Shaq — who shot free throws poorly, knowing they’d likely miss their shots.
O’Neal’s attitude toward the strategy was one of defiance. He claimed that he would make the most crucial free throws “when they count” and that the strategy simply would not work against him.
In 2008, a reporter asked San Antonio Spurs head Gregg Popovich whether he would ‘Hack-a-Shaq’ on the first possession of the game against Shaq’s Phoenix Suns as a joke.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea now that I think about it,” Popovich said.
Sure enough, five seconds into the matchup, a Spurs player wrapped his arms around O’Neal to send him to the free throw line.
Cameras panned to Pop on the sidelines, whose usual stoic demeanour had been replaced by a glowing smile and two thumbs up.
Fortunately, Reese had no such issues from the line.
During her rookie WNBA season last year, she shot 73.6 percent of her free throws.
‘The Bayou Barbie’ averaged 13.6 points, 13.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. She was voted to the All-Star team and named to the WNBA All-Rookie team.
The 22-year-old also became the fastest player in WNBA history to record 20 double-doubles in a season (27 games), had the most double-doubles as a rookie in WNBA history (26), and set the record for most rebounds in a season with 446, which was later broken by Las Vegas Aces superstar A’Ja Wilson (451).
Reese was also in the running for Rookie of the Year but a left wrist injury cut her season short and the award ultimately went to rival Clark.
This year, she’s averaging 14.0 points, 12.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 44.6% from the field.
Reese has named an All-Star for the second straight year and rattled off double-double after double-double.
However, the Sky have struggled, and are 7-15 for the season. Reese’s All-Star status is also up in the air after recently being sidelined with a leg injury.