DALLAS — As LSU closed in on the national championship in the final moments of a 102-85 win over Iowa on Sunday afternoon, Angel Reese took a moment to playfully taunt Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark.
Exactly one week earlier, at the end of an Elite Eight win over Louisville, Clark had hit Cardinals players with a “you can’t see me” celebration, waving her right hand in front her face, fingers spread wide.
Late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, Reese pointed at her ring finger, then looked at Clark and fired the “you can’t see me” gesture back at her. The video clip quickly went viral, prompting outrage from from one side and full-throated support from another.
“I’m happy,” Reese said. “I mean, all year I was critiqued about who I was. I don’t fit the narrative. I don’t fit in a box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. Y’all told me that all year.”
Her remarks, made during LSU’s post-championship news conference, were a shot across the bow at those whom Reese believes apply a double-standard to her. She can’t celebrate, trash-talk or taunt, she said, without hearing criticism. She is seemingly not allowed to behave in ways that are standard to her male or white counterparts.
Asked about Reese’s celebratory moves, Clark praised Reese and congratulated LSU on its victory. From the television broadcast, Clark appeared to be looking in a slightly different direction, her head angled toward the Iowa bench. Clark said she didn’t see it.
“I was just trying to get to the handshake line and shake hands and be grateful that my team was in that position,” Clark said. “That’s all you can do, is hold your head high, be proud of what you did. … But honestly, I have no idea. I was just trying to spend the last few moments on the court with, especially, the five people that I’ve started 93 games with and relishing every second of that.”
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