Shaq opened up about mentoring the Chicago Sky star whose season was cut short due to an injury.

It takes a “great” to recognize another “great,” and the natural pairing of Shaquille O’Neal and Angel Reese comes as no surprise.

Over the course of the Chicago Sky player’s blossoming basketball career (both collegiate and professionally), the NBA Hall of Famer has been an essential part of her shaping as an athlete.

When visiting Shaq‘s Instagram account, you’ll find many posts supporting Reese on the court as well as in her other endeavors with Reebok and her first podcast.

Both athletes have gushed over each other when it comes to mentorship and their athletic s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁, even so much that the 22-year-old looks at the 52-year-old as a “father figure.”

Shaq recently spoke with VIBE where he got candid about the mentorship they’ve built with one another and asserted that he has her back, as if she was his own daughter.

Shaquille O’Neal attends a game between the LSU Lady Tigers and the Colorado Buffaloes during the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Series at T-Mobile Arena on November 06, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Buffaloes defeated the Lady Tigers 92-78. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

“I have four daughters. She reminds me of one of my babies,” he spoke highly of the former LSU star. “Coming from where she’s come from, sometimes you need that extra protector, and that was me.

I always let her know, ‘Anybody f**k with you, holler at me.’ When she was going through her thing with Kim [Mulkey], I was the one that got on the phone and was like, ‘Hey, this how you handle it, relax,’ and she did a wonderful, beautiful job.”

He continued, “When I took over Reebok and we wanted to do something with women’s sports, she was the first and she was the only [person I thought of].

When you’re with people and you mentor them, a lot of mentors think you have to be micro-manageable. I don’t. I don’t call her all the time, I don’t text her all the time. She knows if she needs me, I don’t sleep. It’s 24 hours.”

Reese’s Chicago Sky season was cut short due to a wrist injury that took place on Sept. 6. “What a year. I never would have imagined the last bucket of my rookie season would be a 3 but maybe that was God saying give them a taste of what they will be seeing more of in Year 2 lol,” she wrote on X at the time.

She also underwent surgery on Sept. 10, which has her left wrist healing in a cast. Reese finished her WNBA rookie season averaging 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game, as the only rookie averaging a double-double and led the WNBA in average rebounds.

What a year. I never would have imagined the last bucket of my rookie season would be a 3 but maybe that was God saying give them a taste of what they will be seeing more of in Year 2 lol Through it all, I have showed that I belong in this league even when no one else believed.… pic.twitter.com/re1X85mWR2

— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel)

September 8, 2024

Speaking of her unfortunate mishap, Shaq revealed that he was there for her through that as well, and treated her situation as he would do for his own children.

“When she broke her hand the other day, I hit her up like, ‘You all right?’ She said, ‘Yeah, I’m good.’ I was like, ‘I hope this doesn’t interact with the rookie of the year,’ and she’s like, ‘I don’t care. I just want my team to make the play-offs,’” he shared. “And I do the same thing with my kids.

My kids are adults now, but I told my [son] the other day, ‘Bro, you don’t have to call me every day, we good. I did my job from zero to 18 [years old]. I got you to college. You’re a man now. You got your daddy’s number. You call me, if you need me.’”

He further explained, “I’m not that parent, because that’s how my parents did me. When I was 18, 17, my father dropped me off at LSU’s campus and stayed with me two days.

On the second day he said, ‘If you bring your a** back home or drop out, you’re joining the army. I’ll see you later.’ We didn’t have cell phones back then, so I called them when I could.”

Reese has also expressed how the former Lakers player has been a parental figure to her and has also inspired her.

“He’s so genuine, he’s been there for me through tough times. He just gets it, and there’s not a more perfect person for me to be tight with,” she told USA Today.

“We have fun, and if I need anything he would help me. And he would do that even if I never played basketball again. He doesn’t care about me as a player, he cares about me as a person.”

She added, “One thing I always remember he said is, I have the world at my (fingertips). I could post right now on Instagram that I bought a million dollar home and people are going to believe it, because that’s how social media works.

So when all of that was happening, he was coaching me up.”