April 14th 2023.
Jill Biden stirred up a lot of attention when she invited both teams to the White House after the NCAA Women's National Championship, breaking the long-standing tradition of the winning team making the visit. This prompted some individuals to express their concerns, including Shaquille O'Neal. On The Big Podcast, Shaq suggested that Biden's invitation was rooted in racism - LSU's women's basketball team is predominantly Black, while Iowa's women's basketball team is mostly white.
"That's not what it was about," Shaq said on The Big Podcast. He added that he didn't want people to jump to conclusions and urged them to use their imaginations. "You know what it was about. I'm not going to mention it. You know what it was about, right?"
The Big Podcast's co-host, Nischelle Turner, then confirmed Shaq's thought, saying "It became a race issue. It became a team of all-Black girls beating a team of all-white girls. That's what it became." Spice Adams, the other co-host, also added that if Iowa had won, Biden probably wouldn't have invited LSU.
On April 3, after LSU won the NCAA Women's National Championship, Biden praised both teams and highlighted Iowa's sportsmanship. She said, "We always do. So, we hope LSU will come, but, you know, I'm going to tell Joe [Biden] I think Iowa should come, too, because they played such a good game."
Shaq, who voted for President Joe Biden, said that Mrs. Biden's offer to Iowa brought up a lot of emotion for him. He said, "Stuff like that bothers me because you are a woman at the end of the day, white, black, Mexican, it doesn't matter. You're supposed to be standing behind us before anything." He also emphasized that this was a positive change from the tradition and that it was a step in the right direction.
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