$500 million worth Shaquille O'Neal drops blunt take on men's March Madness as women's stars take over: "The boys suck"

Since last year's March Madness national championship game featuring the LSU Tigers led by Angel Reese against Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes which shattered viewership records, women's basketball has taken on a life of its own.

In a recent episode of “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” Shaquille O’Neal, valued at $500 million, made a startling claim about the state of women’s basketball in relation to the ongoing March Madness games.

"Well the boys suck so I'm definitely not following but I’m definitely following the girls that actually women’s basketball is kicking a** yeah like it’s really it’s kicking a**.” O'Neal said, “It was kind of like Epiphany like last week was the first time I watched all girls games like I’ve never done it before ever but last week, oh it was crazy."

Shaq talked about how the women's college basketball players are killing it, while he does not even know the names of any of the men's players.

"Juju Watkins, Caitlin, my girl Angel Reese like they're just killing. I don't think I even know any men's [players]."

How the March Madness championship game of 2023 grew women's basketball

The 2023 national championship game won by the Tigers 102-85 instantly became a classic due to Angel Reese's 'you can't see me' gesture and Steph Curry's 'ring me' celebration aimed at Clark when LSU's lead was insurmountable.

That game garnered 9.9 million viewers and when it was confirmed that the two protagonists would meet in this year's March Madness as well at the Elite Eight stage, the college hoops world sat up and took notice.

It ended up being closer than the last game, with the reigning national champions losing 94-87 even though Reese fouled out a few minutes before the fourth quarter ended.

The sub-plots kept weaving themselves as Caitlin Clark shot lights out registering a double-double of 41 points and 12 assists to vanquish Reese who finished the clash with 17 points and 20 rebounds.

The March Madness game again obliterated records with 12.3 million viewers tuning in to watch the last collegiate battle between the two supremos before they departed for the WNBA.

Arguably, Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark have done more to increase interest in college women's basketball than any other players in recent memory and WNBA teams are hoping that a bit of that stardust will rub off on them.

Neutral fans started tuning in to more women's games due to the spicy nature of the sub-plots, including the Reese versus Clark narrative, which drove discourse, trends and discussion on sports shows and various social media platforms.