Shaquille O'Neal Says Rough Treatment of Caitlin Clark in WNBA Is a 'Rite of Passage' She Must Pass Now

Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal says the physical, sometimes hostile treatment Caitlin Clark has faced from opposing WNBA players amounts to a familiar rite of passage that every all-time great athlete has had to endure, offering a defense of the league's rough handling of the Indiana Fever star as she navigates her third professional season.

"Once she passes through that, the league will belong to her," O'Neal told CNBC Sport in an interview on the set of his television show, "Dunkman," addressing the ongoing national debate over how Clark has been treated on the court.

A Pattern of Physical Play

Clark has been the target of a series of harsh fouls throughout her WNBA career, including hip checks, eye pokes and, most notably, a direct blow to the throat during a June 24 matchup against the Phoenix Mercury. No foul was initially called on that play, but following widespread public criticism, the league reviewed the incident and issued a one-game suspension to Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas for what the WNBA described as recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area.

Clark addressed the incident publicly on July 3, saying that officiating needs to improve and that the league needs to do a better job protecting players on the court. The pattern of physical treatment directed at Clark, combined with ongoing criticism of WNBA officiating more broadly, has fueled sustained national debate, with some lawmakers going so far as to call for greater accountability from the league regarding how it handles conduct against the star guard.

O'Neal Draws on His Own Career

O'Neal, a four-time NBA champion, said he experienced similar treatment throughout his own playing career, and that he witnessed comparable dynamics play out with other basketball legends, including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Magic Johnson, as well as with boxing icon Muhammad Ali. He framed the phenomenon as an inevitable stage that any dominant athlete must move through before earning full respect from peers and opponents.

"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. "So for her, she needs to toughen up, take those licks, and show them that, 'These licks don't bother me.'"

In a separate interview with Fox News Digital, O'Neal went further in describing the dynamics at play among Clark's WNBA peers, saying that a degree of professional jealousy exists toward the Fever star. He explained that other players in the league, feeling overlooked or under-covered by comparison, often respond by directing more physical attention toward whichever player is perceived as the league's biggest star, adding that if other players are coming at Clark as a result of that dynamic, it is simply part of the competitive nature of professional sports.

A Debate Over Whether the Game Has Actually Changed

Not every prominent WNBA voice agrees that the physical treatment directed at Clark reflects a meaningful shift in how the league is played. Diana Taurasi, a three-time WNBA champion who played 20 seasons in the league before retiring, pushed back on the idea that the game has grown more physical in recent years. Speaking last month at the CNBC Sport x Boardroom Game Plan Summit, Taurasi said that anyone who believes the current level of physicality is unusual should go back and watch WNBA Finals games from 15 or 16 years ago, suggesting that today's level of contact is not out of step with the league's longer history.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver offered a somewhat different framing of the controversy during the same July event, saying that the issues surrounding Clark are not fundamentally about officiating at all. Silver said Clark has become something of a political football in the broader national conversation, a dynamic he described as incredibly unfair to her personally, separate from any legitimate questions about how games involving her are officiated.

Continuing to Make History Despite the Physicality

Even amid the ongoing controversy, Clark has continued producing standout performances and setting new league records. The three-time WNBA All-Star became the fastest player in league history to reach 1,000 career points, 250 rebounds and 250 assists, accomplishing the feat in just 54 career games and breaking the previous record of 62 games set by Taurasi. On July 17, Clark scored a career-high 45 points in a game against the Seattle Storm.

Support From Other NBA Figures

O'Neal is not the only prominent NBA figure to publicly encourage Clark to push through the physical treatment she has faced. Seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry offered similar advice earlier this summer, telling Fox News Digital that being the best inevitably invites opponents looking to knock a star player down a notch. Horry pointed specifically to O'Neal's own playing career as an example, recalling that his former teammate eventually began responding more physically to rough treatment on the court, a shift Horry suggested Clark might eventually need to consider as she continues adjusting to the professional game.

A League Grappling With Broader Controversy

The debate over Clark's treatment has unfolded alongside other points of controversy within the WNBA this season, including questions surrounding league officiating more broadly and a separate incident in which the league deleted a social media post referencing a wager between players Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers, given that gambling of any kind is strictly prohibited under the terms of the WNBA's current collective bargaining agreement.

With Clark continuing to post record-setting statistical performances even amid persistent physical treatment on the court, O'Neal's comments add to a growing chorus of prominent basketball figures weighing in on how the league and its players should handle the attention and physicality directed toward its most closely watched star. O'Neal closed his comments with a direct message to Clark, encouraging her to continue performing at a high level, saying that doing so would eventually cause the rites of passage to open up, ultimately leading her peers to fully welcome her into the league's upper tier and, as he put it, hand her the throne.