NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal doesn't think the physical play Indiana Fever superstar guard Caitlin Clark faces in the WNBA is all that uncommon for what players of her stature go through.
On the contrary, he told CNBC this week that it's part of the process on the road to greatness. O'Neal called Clark getting played physically a rite of passage for all great players like her.
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“All the greats have to go through what we call rites of passage. She’s a fabulous player, but we’re not giving you anything, ever. You have to earn it,” O’Neal said during the appearance. “So for her, she needs to toughen up, take those licks, and show them that, ‘These licks don’t bother me.’”
O'Neal added that it's something all the best basketball players have gone through and that "once she passes through that, the league will belong to her."
Clark is a constant lightning rod of WNBA discourse, and how she's played by defenders will never not be a topic of conversation. O'Neal knows as well as anybody how the greats in the NBA have been played, and he thinks Clark is basically on the same path they are. Get played physical now; benefit from it later.
When do Catlin Clark and the Indiana Fever play next?
Thursday night at home against the Las Vegas Aces.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Shaq thinks Caitlin Clark is going through 'rites of passage' in WNBA
