Caitlin Clark Defends LSU Star Angel Reese Over National Championship Game Trash Talk Drama
Apr. 4 2023, Published 4:19 p.m. ET
Iowa women's basketball star Caitlin Clark came to the defense of Angel Reese after the internet attacked the LSU player for trash talk in the National Championship title game, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Reese, 20, sparked controversy when she made John Cena's infamous "you can't see me" hand gesture at Clark, 21, before her team clinched their first National Championship in school history.
Among shocking reactions from the thrilling game came from popular media personalities like Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports, who blasted Reese as a "classless piece of s---" over the gesture.
Portnoy was accused of being racist over the comment — and the debate on Reese's trash talk raged on.
Angel Reese
While the internet debated whether or not Reese was being a poor sport, her opponent rushed to her defense.
On Monday, Clark spoke to a room full of reporters — and there was no way to avoid the topic of Reese's behavior during the high-stakes game.
"I don't think there should be any criticism for what she did," Clark told the media in a calm yet assertive tone.
Much of the debate surround Reese and Clark in the championship game was over Clark's own history of taunting opponents. Reese critics hit back and claimed that what the LSU star was different, because she appeared to follow Clark around the court while making the Cena move.
Clark, however, merely saw it as part of the game. Unwilling to give into reporter's hopes and slam her opponent, the Iowa star spoke highly of Reese, despite her fans' feelings on the matter.
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"I think the biggest thing is we're all competitive. We all show our emotions in a different way," Clark continued at the press conference. "Angel is a tremendous, tremendous player. I have nothing but respect for her."
Clark recalled Reese's impressive handling skills as she praised the LSU team as a whole for rising to the occasion of the national title game.
The Iowa Hawkeye pivoted back to the sore subject and insisted that Reese should not be criticized for her actions, that Clark herself was guilty of.
"Like I said, they played an amazing game so I don't think there should be any criticism for what she did," Clark continued. "I honestly didn't see it when the game was going on and like I said, I haven't been on social media really at all."
The issue — or rather non-issue — for Clark appeared to be far from her mind, regardless of what talk on social media alleged.
As for Reese, she refused to apologize — and she thought First Lady Jill Biden's suggestion to invite the Iowa team to the White House, a trip typically reserved only for champions, was laughable.
Reese retweeted a story about the First Lady, who was in attendance for the big game, which reported her wish to invite both teams to Washington D.C.
Reese captioned her retweet with three crying face emojis and in all-caps simply called it, "A JOKE."