LeBron James Takes a Side on National Championship Game Taunting Controversy: 'Facts!!!'
A few seconds of taunting spiraled into a wider conversation that has now come down to race.
As the final seconds of LSU’s NCAA women’s championship win over Iowa were ticking away on Sunday, LSU star Angel Reese focused on Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, mocking Clark with wrestling star John Cena’s “You can’t see me” hand motion — something Clark had done earlier in the tournament.
ANGEL REESE TO CAITLIN CLARK 😳 pic.twitter.com/2NY0CEzwJ3
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 2, 2023
Reese then made a show of pointing to her ring finger to indicate that she would be wearing a national championship ring.
That launched a round of criticism aimed at an unapologetic Reese for trashing the concept of sportsmanship. NBA star LeBron James waded into the controversy, taking the side of Reese, who is black.
FACTS!!!! Love to see it https://t.co/YrrlIyg90S
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 3, 2023
“FACTS!!!! Love to see it,” he wrote, retweeting a video of a movie scene in which actress Angela Bassett stalks away from a fire she started.
James added a second post noting that some had made the game a comparison of races and cultures and giving more support to Reese.
“Ayyyeee We A Set This Off!”
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣!!!!! Ayyyeee We A Set This 🗣️ Off! https://t.co/W78kUKCYv3
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 3, 2023
Sports commentator Jay Williams said criticism of Reese was based on race.
“Why are we taking it to that level?”@RealJayWilliams thinks it’s completely ridiculous that people are questioning Angel Reese’s character. #KJM pic.twitter.com/HN4pcFstBy
— Keyshawn, JWill & Max (@KeyJayandMax) April 3, 2023
“We have a certain section of people that then want to come out and call out people like Angel Reese, who is 20 years old,” Williams said.
“Now think about this, the narrative that’s been following this team all year long has been that they’re ghetto, they’re thugs,” he said.
“Today I’m pissed off because instead of congratulating and celebrating LSU, we’re talking about elements of race and double standards,” he said.
Williams’s comments were in line with some posts James and others had tweeted.
If it wasn’t “classless” when Caitlin Clark did it, don’t call it classless when Angel Reese does it. Let the women compete, it’s sports!! pic.twitter.com/lJpS1NId68
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) April 2, 2023
If you praised Caitlin Clark as competitive, fiery, and passionate for doing the “You can’t See me” celebration and are criticizing Angel Reese for the same we already know!!
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) April 2, 2023
Zero problem with Angel Reese, Caitlin Clarke or anyone as good as they are talking junk, because they back it up on the court. Some of y’all always have exceptions to your “rules” about “sportsmanship.”
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) April 2, 2023
“When Caitlin Clark is doing all this, she has swag, she’s a competitor … but when Angel Reese does it. Was it maybe a tad bit excessive, could she have been called [for a technical foul]? Sure, if the refs wanted to call her for a ‘T’ at the end of the game for trash-talking because she followed Caitlin Clark around,” Williams said.
“We applaud it in other directions, but now we want to apply race towards it,” he said.
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