Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Caitlin Clark has no problem with Angel Reese.
When Angel Reese taunted Caitlin Clark during following LSU’s win over Iowa in the National Championship Game it sparked the stupidest sports outrage we’ve seen in a while. Reese, LSU’s phenom forward, was branded as “classless” for taunting Clark, barely removed from Clark being celebrated for doing the exact same thing against Louisville.
Not only did the incident separate who had actually been paying attention to the women’s NCAA tournament from the bandwagon riders, but the hypocrisy was a huge racial dog whistle, underscoring the different reactions a white player and a black player got for doing the same thing. Clark didn’t ask for anyone to defend her, tanking the taunting on the chin during the game — and on Tuesday she spoke in defense of Reese.
“Men have always had trash talk. … You should be able to play with that emotion. … That’s how every girl should continue to play.”
Caitlin Clark discussed if women are held to a different standard than men on @OTLonESPN. pic.twitter.com/JY7MWlOuVq
— ESPN (@espn) April 4, 2023
Caitlin Clark on Angel Reese gestures:
“We’re all competitive. We all show our emotions in a different way. … Angel is a tremendous, tremendous player. I have nothing but respect for her. I love her game …I don’t think there should be any criticism for what she did. ” pic.twitter.com/KKHsvVPXKc
— Keith Murphy (@MurphyKeith) April 4, 2023
Caitlin Clark to ESPN just now: “I don’t think Angel should be criticized at all. No matter what way it goes, she should never be criticized for what she did. I compete, she competed.
“It was a super, super fun game. I think that’s what’s going to bring more people to our game”
— Shea Dixon (@Sheadixon) April 4, 2023
This hits the nail on the head. Anyone who’s played sports beyond a pee wee level understands this. When top athletes are competing there’s trash talk, taunting, and back-and-forths we never see as spectators, but the athletes themselves know what’s going on. They understand that being great earns you the right to talk shit, and that turnabout is fair play when you’re got by an opponent. That doesn’t change just because cameras catch these interactions, and it’s part of what makes sport special — because it leads to the drama and rivalries that cause a game to transcend a box score and turn it into a moment.
If people want to just be mad to be mad, fine. There’s a lot of people frothing at the mouth just to be angry over something, anything these days — but if Clark is totally cool with what went down, then any arguments to keep this conversation going are hollow.
Two of the best went head-to-head. In this meeting Reese came out on top. You best believe Clark is dying for a chance to get even and taunt her right back, and we’ll be waiting to see if this goes down in 2024.
