Angel Reese Roasted For Reaction To Caitlin Clark Foul
Tempers flared between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky on Saturday when Caitlin Clark purposefully fouled Angel Reese to stop Reese from having a wide-open look at the basket.
Clark executed the situation perfectly from a basketball perspective. The Fever blew their defensive assignment and Reese was left wide open underneath the hoop. Rather than allow the Sky sophomore to have an easy look, Clark fouled her.
The foul was hard, but not excessive, because that's what players are taught to do. Commit a foul that prevents the offensive player from being able to get an and-1 opportunity. Stop the wide-open shot and force Reese to make two free throws.
That's what Clark did, but Reese dramatically flopped to the floor, then jumped up and tried to go after Clark. The scene was… well, it was bizarre.
Referees reviewed the play and assessed a flagrant foul on Clark, which didn't appear to fit the crime in this situation. For those who believe the WNBA is terrified of players like Reese screaming about racism, the call seemed to serve as an appeasement rather than an attempt to make the correct call.
The WNBA rulebook defines a flagrant foul as one where "unnecessary" or "excessive" contact occurs. The contact was certainly necessary – Clark was trying to stop Reese from having a wide-open layup, and she attempted to go after the basketball. Excessive doesn't really fit, either, regardless of how much Reese tried to make it appear that way.
Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese lost her mind when Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark fouled her during Saturday's game and then Reese made it worse with her postgame comments.
(Trevor Ruszkowski/Imagn Images)
They also assessed a technical foul on Reese for her reaction after the play and a technical on Clark's teammate, Aliyah Boston, for defending Clark and getting in Reese's way to stop her from trying to get at Clark. For what it's worth, Boston probably didn't deserve a technical, either, since all she did was block Reese's path towards Clark.
For her part, Clark stated the obvious during an interview with ESPN after the quarter ended. She basically said that she did exactly what she was taught and that "every basketball player knows" that you commit a foul in that situation.
But Angel Reese didn't see it that way, and it's most likely because she was looking for a reason to go after Clark. As much as Reese claims she doesn't "hate" Caitlin Clark, it certainly appears that she does. Many people noticed that her reaction to the foul was so over-the-top, that there must be something deeper at play.
After the game, Clark once again explained that her foul on Reese was purely a basketball play, and she disagreed with the referees assessing a flagrant foul. Of course she did, since the foul was not flagrant. If anything, Reese was the only player who deserved an additional penalty for her ridiculous overreaction.
On the other side, Angel Reese didn't want to talk about it. Just like earlier in the week when she dropped a "next question" when a reporter asked her about previous Caitlin Clark comments, Reese thinks she's above answering questions – even when she has explaining to do about her behavior.
"Basketball play. Refs got it right. Move on," Reese snipped.
If it was a "basketball play", then how did the refs get "it right"? Her response didn't even make sense. A "basketball play" by definition should not result in a flagrant foul. In fact, listen to the commentators next time you see a legitimate flagrant foul. They will say things like, "that's NOT a basketball play."
Social media users continued to pile on Reese for what most people deemed to be a massive overreaction. Some of them had jokes, too, with alot of them proclaiming that Clark didn't need to foul Reese because, well, Reese isn't great at making layups, so she might have missed the wide-open shot anyway.
But, of course, there was the group that was ready to play the racism card immediately. Some of this discourse has gotten so predictable.
Look, you have to give credit where credit is due. Angel Reese is an average basketball player, certainly not a great one like Caitlin Clark, but she's managed to make herself incredibly relevant and cashed in on her marketability.
Her most marketable skill isn't basketball, and she knows it. She needs to continue to fuel this "rivalry" with Clark to keep cashing checks. This is America and Reese is using capitalism to her advantage. Don't hate the player, hate the game.