Shaquille O'Neal has never been shy about sharing his opinions, but his latest suggestion for "fixing" the WNBA has sparked a firestorm of criticism. The four-time NBA champion and Hall of Famer believes he has the perfect solution to boost excitement in women's basketball: lower the rim so players can dunk.
During an appearance on Revolt TV, O'Neal drew a comparison to beach volleyball, noting how the net is adjusted for women. "The only thing missing from the WNBA to the NBA game is the dunk," he said. "I'm not saying lower it to 9 feet or 8 feet… so they can dunk. I think if they did that, it would make the game more exciting. They got the handles, they got the shooters, they got the showmanship, they just don't have the dunk."
But his well-intentioned suggestion has landed with a thud among WNBA fans, who view it as both insulting and fundamentally flawed. The universal 10-foot hoop is a cornerstone of basketball, and altering it for women would create logistical nightmares for courts worldwide. As one fan put it on social media, "Yes Shaq. Let's make the entire sport of basketball inaccessible to all women who play it because you want to see dunks instead of realizing that they're fundamentally different sports."
Another fan defended the WNBA's style of play, writing, "I love Shaq but he's wrong about this. The fact WNBA ball has to be played below the rim is part of what makes the game interesting." Others pointed out that dunking isn't the only draw of the NBA, with one commenter noting, "Saying stuff like this implies that yall think dunks are the only thing that make men's basketball worth watching cuz the women's game got just about everything else."
Even some who understand Shaq's intent see practical problems. "I hate this discussion about lowering the rim," one fan wrote. "Parents watch their kids play in elementary and middle school; they don't have a problem then. I would say less than 1% of NBA twitter can actually dunk, but the number for how many play is much larger. I can't dunk, but I want a 10ft rim. The reason why the WNBA isn't as popular as the NBA is because it's younger."
Longtime WNBA star Lexie Brown also weighed in, dismissing the idea as unlikely to change much. "For me, that will not benefit me at all. I'm not like a super athletic girl. But so many of us, even with the rim lower, you're still not going to get people dunking on people… Maybe it would benefit what? Five or six players," she said.
This isn't the first time a sports figure has faced backlash for suggesting changes to a women's league. Earlier this year, NFL fans told Trump to butt out after his own rule proposals. And the debate over how to grow the WNBA continues, with some pointing to off-court controversies as distractions from the on-court product.
For now, Shaq's "solution" has only united fans and players in their opposition. The WNBA's popularity is on the rise, and many believe the game's quality—not the rim height—is what will sustain it. As one fan succinctly put it, "The women's game is already exciting; Shaq just needs to watch more of it."
