The Chicago Sky star credits Shaquille O’Neal with helping her stay grounded.

INDIANAPOLIS — Angel Reese has never had trouble tuning out the noise — and she has an NBA legend to thank for it.

After WNBA All-Star Game practice Friday in Indianapolis, the Chicago Sky star was asked what was the best advice Shaquille O’Neal has ever given her.

“He’s given me a lot of great, great advice,” Reese said. “Probably to ignore the haters. If they ain’t hating, you ain’t popping. He just tells me that all the time, because I know he has my back… But he’s been very vocal in everything that I’ve done, and he’s been a big supporter of that whole process.”

Shaq and Reese both played at LSU (albeit, three decades apart), and Shaq has been a vocal advocate for the NBA 2K26 cover model dating back to her college days, publicly defending her against critics and encouraging her to lean into the spotlight.

And she’s certainly done that. Since her national title win at LSU and the rise of her rivalry with Caitlin Clark, Reese has been one of the most polarizing athletes in sports. She’s racked up countless endorsement deals, millions of fans and plenty of backlash — some of it, admittedly, from this very website.

Most recently, Reese found herself in a social media firestorm after Robert Griffin III re-posted a racist meme on X and claimed that members of Reese’s “inner circle” confided in him about her alleged disdain for Clark. Reese flat-out said RGIII was “lying on this app.”

And Shaq had some strong words for the former NFL quarterback, too.

Asked Friday how she handles the constant criticism, Reese said, “Just staying grounded, keeping the main thing the main thing. I’m really blessed. I pray a lot. I have long nights, I have long car rides where I just drive and smile or drive and cry or drive and pray, and I think it’s just a part of the process. It’s a part of the moment.”

She continued: “I’ve always just been a person that can just trust whatever — trust God, trust everything that I go through, and never just be too down on myself. It took me a while… It took me a couple months after I won a national championship to get acclimated to this new life. But now it’s like, this is what my life is for, here and now.”

The 23-year-old has previously gone on record saying, “hating pays them bills, baby.” But she admits it’s not always easy to be on the receiving end of never-ending scrutiny.

“Sometimes people ask me, do I wish I had a normal life? I mean, yeah, sometimes,” she said. “But at the same time, it comes with benefits. It comes with great things. And I’m really blessed. I’m really grateful for everything.”

Reese enters Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game on a hot streak — recording double-doubles in each of her last nine games for the Sky.