Shaq was nearly unstoppable during his time in the NBA. But when it comes to broadcasting, he may have met his match. On Candace Parker, isn’t interested in gender-specific handicaps to make the WNBA as appealing as its male counterpart.
During Tuesday’s Inside the NBA on TNT, Shaquille O’Neal came up with an idea that would level the playing field between the men’s game and women’s basketball.
“I have a way to make it equal,” Shaq said to Parker. “So in beach volleyball, the women’s net is maybe a half-an-inch lower. You think if we lower the rim so y’all can dunk like we dunk that would give y’all more oomph than you already have?”
It was obvious from Parker’s body language that she wasn’t down with Shaq’s suggestion.
Instead, Parker promised that women basketball players will be dunking soon. “My next child will be drop-step dunking. I promise you,” she said.
Parker, who’s had an illustrious playing career, has been a formidable foe for Shaq since joining the TNT panel, as she recently schooled him on NBA defensive schemes in a clip that went viral.
Oh, she also knows a thing or two about dunking. In 2004, Parker won the McDonald’s All-American Dunk Contest, beating out players like J.R. Smith. She was the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game and was the first woman to dunk twice in a college game. Additionally, Parker is the second woman in history to dunk during a WNBA regulation game, following the great Lisa Leslie.
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