Without Proof, ESPN Dives Headfirst Into Allegations Of Racism Towards Angel Reese

Following Saturday's game between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky, the WNBA released a statement saying it was investigating Fever fans for allegedly hurling racial slurs towards Sky forward Angel Reese. ESPN, naturally, quickly jumped into the fray. 

On Sunday, the league released a statement: "The WNBA strongly condemns racism, hate, and discrimination in all forms — they have no place in our league or in society. We are aware of the allegations and are looking into the matter."

Since the game was played in a packed arena, with thousands of fans filming at all times, it's curious that no concrete proof has surfaced corroborating the allegations. 

The allegations appear to revolve around Fever fans allegedly making "monkey noises" toward Reese during Saturday's game, specifically when Reese was shooting free throws after a questionable flagrant foul call on Caitlin Clark. 

However, there are many people doubting whether the noise was actually coming from fans. It appears, from video taken in the arena, as though the sounds derived from the PA system and weren't monkey noise at all. In addition, there is booing heard from the crowd – fairly standard at a sporting event – but nothing that clearly shows Reese facing racial attacks. 

So, you'd think that ESPN – which calls itself "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" – might cautiously approach the story until the facts reveal themselves. But, no, they did not. 

ESPN ‘Analysts’ Quickly Assumed Racism

The network also decided it would be a good idea to have an all-black panel talk about the alleged incident on its signature program, "First Take." One might think that a conversation like this would require nuance and possibly a more diverse opinion pool, but again, nope. Just three people who all think the same thing lecturing about the horrors of being black in America. 

Stephen A. Smith even confirmed, after Monica McNutt and Chiney Ogumwike finished speaking, that he didn't "disagree with a syllable" they "uttered." Really? Not one syllable? For a show with the tagline, "Embrace Debate," it's fascinating that they had three people on the show without so much as a disagreement over a syllable. 

"I'm not bothered by this because I love when folks are stupid enough to show themselves," Smith continued as McNutt and Ogumwike nodded along in agreement. OK, but what are we talking about here? We still have not one shred of evidence that the alleged incident took place. It might have, it might not have. 

Despite a clear lack of evidence, several ESPN "analysts" – including Stephen A. Smith – were happy to accept the premise that Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese endured racial attacks during game against Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever.

(Imagn Images)

But it appears that ESPN has decided to operate under the assumption that it DID happen. You see, the American judicial system operates under the "innocent until proven guilty" paradigm. However, ESPN is apparently guided by the "guilty until proven innocent" principle – if the allegations are racial in nature, specifically. 

McNutt echoed Smith, but decided to go even further in the "guilty until proven innocent" direction. 

"The fact that the WNBA has to put out a statement because of racist comments and unsafe conditions towards Angel Reese…" McNutt said. 

This is factually inaccurate. The WNBA did not put out a statement "because of racist comments and unsafe conditions towards Angel Reese." Rather, the WNBA put a statement saying it was investigating "allegations" of "racism, hate and discrimination."

Allegations is the key word. It's also a word that McNutt conveniently forgot to include in her rant. 

"Any time something happens with the two of them, one is automatically put as the victim and one is automatically put as one who needs to be saved," McNutt continued. 

Presumably, she means that Clark is the "victim" and the one "who needs to be saved." This is hilariously ironic because McNutt's entire rant paints Angel Reese as a victim of a hate crime that might have never happened. McNutt is the one trying to "save" Reese from the harassment that, again, might have never even occurred.

Despite a clear lack of evidence, several ESPN "analysts" – including Monica McNutt (pictured) – were happy to accept the premise that Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese endured racial attacks during game against Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever. 

(Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports)

 "If this was the other way around, oh Lord, you can imagine how the conversation would've gone," McNutt concluded. Again, pretty clear what the "analyst" is saying here: had Clark been the victim of alleged harassment, there would be outrage. 

Hm, that's funny. A man went to jail for harassing and stalking Caitlin Clark and there was nary a peep from the folks in the WNBA and at ESPN about it. That wasn't just an allegation – there was proof. Yet, no outrage. But when Reese MIGHT have faced harassment, ESPN jumped into full-blown social justice outrage performance art. 

Predictably, Chiney Ogwumike quickly agreed with McNutt and added that "people project their own subjective feelings on these ladies." Again, pretty clearly she means that white people identify with Clark and hate Reese because she's black. It has nothing to do with Reese's comments, actions, or behavior – like her overreaction to the Clark foul. No, it's simply because of the color of her skin. 

I don't know what else to say at this point. ESPN continues to devolve more and more into a social justice engine that lives to simply stoke racial tensions at every turn. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that Monday represented yet another disturbing chapter in this new ESPN era.