Trinity Rodman glad to get USWNT roster shout-out from ‘Uncle Shaq’

What connection could a USWNT forward have to an NBA legend?

Even U.S. women’s national team players lean on a family connection every now and then.

U.S. Soccer pulled out all the stops in a roster announcement hype video, getting President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden to introduce what turned out to be a list of mostly non-soccer celebrities to congratulate each player for making the squad.

The connections varied, with Alex Morgan getting a shout-out from her friend Taylor Swift, while one Megan (Rapinoe) got a message from another (Thee Stallion). College connections and shared home states, came up more than once, but in some cases the link was a little more personal.

Trinity Rodman, for one, has known the big name chosen to help announce to the world that she was going to her first World Cup for a long time.

“Mine was cool. Uncle Shaq,” joked Rodman while speaking to reporters on Thursday about Shaquille O’Neal, the famously tall former NBA legend and friend of the family through her father, former Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman. “Obviously Shaq and my dad were friends and stuff, and he saw me at a really young age… It was awesome. And he’s super cool.”

There may have been more degrees of separation for Andi Sullivan and actor Rainn Wilson, but the link wouldn’t have happened without someone close to the Washington Spirit midfielder.

“I love The Office. I also just found out that my husband was involved in the suggestion of that,” explained Sullivan, whose husband Drew Skundrich plays for the Colorado Springs Switchbacks of the USL Championship. “When I told him about it, I was like ‘oh my gosh, they know me so well,’ and he was like, ‘no, Andi, I know you so well.’ So, I love that so much, and I love Rainn Wilson.”

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