The Womens Basketball NCAA Championship ended with LSU taking the title over Iowa. The two players that caught the attention of fans, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, became tabloid news over Reeses’ actions in the last game. Reese has seen heat before for her actions during the games like pointing to her ring finger in the previous minutes of the championship game. Reese has continually defended herself on and off the court from fans who grimace at her actions like Dave Portnoy who runs Barstool called Reese ‘a classless piece of s****.’ However, Caitlin Clark, a player for Iowa State, had a whole montage dedicated to her trash talk on the court showcased on ESPN. The montage was titled ‘The Queen of Clapbacks’ but when Reese even makes a subtle notion that her team will win the championship game she’s ‘classless?’
The championship game was not the first time Reese had been called classless by public figures and fans, but that doesn’t stop her from excelling at her game. Reese holds the second spot in the nation for points scored and rebounds, with an impressive 15.4 rebounds a game. She has branded herself ‘The Bayou Barbie’ and has earned an impressive 1 million from brand deals like Amazon and Coach. The amount of press and hatred thrown at her only makes her brand stronger, whereas she’s getting paid to stay in the media with people scrutinizing her every move and sentence. You go girl!
I usually don’t enjoy watching sports, let alone basketball as it is. But there’s something about watching Reese and her powerful she is on the court that leaves me only watching her during the game. She’s fiery and passionate, boxing out for the rebound. And she will always make the rebound that’s for sure.
Reese was asked about her image after a post-game conference about the fans attacking her actions. “I don’t fit in a box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. But when other people do it, y’all say nothing. So this was for the girls that look like me, that’s going to speak up on what they believe in,” Reese said. “It’s unapologetically you.” Reese references Clark when she mentions ‘other people do it’ to address the double standards of trash talk between white women and black women on the court.
Reese had been scrutinized all season while Clark amassed love from her trash talk that was deemed ‘passionate’ while Reese was called ‘aggressive.’ But, there’s something about Reese you have to love and admire. She never changed herself and addresses the media directly and calls them out. She will never be the image the media wants her to be and I find that powerful for all the younger girls who watch college sports. Reese addresses the direct issue with women’s sports which is the delicate line of disliking a woman as a player versus disliking her as a person off the court. Black women unfortunately have been stereotyped as loud and aggressive and the media slammed Reese for being ‘aggressive’ while she plays the sport she loves.
Why does the media mistake passion for aggression, especially among black women? Why do we expect women to be dainty and fragile while playing a sport like the men who are praised for their trash talk and bad behavior? Reese continues to be an excellent role model for young players because she continues to be the same person on and off the court, and that person happens to be a strong leader and gifted player. Who wouldn’t want to be Angel Reese?