As the Tigers finally put their hands on their first ever national title with an impressive 102-85 victory over Iowa this Sunday, the internet debated if the way the LSU athletes celebrated was โclasslessโ or fair. After Louisiana star Angel Reese recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals in the championship match, she began making fun of Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark.ย
The sophomore foward began conmemorating withย under a minute remaining to the final buzzer, making John Cenaโs โYou canโt see meโ gestures to try and mock the Iowa player. Reese then showed her ring finger to Clarkโs face.
Take a look at the LSU starโs controversial celebration and judge it yourselves:
โ sports (@ilikesportsvids) April 2, 2023
Reese eventually got the opposite reaction to what she expected in social media, as most have deemed her to lack maturity, while many have showed praise for the championship runner up.ย ย After the contest, the young player ignored the criticism and said she canโt change her personality.
โAll year I was critiqued about who I was,โ Reese stated. โI donโt fit the narrative. I donโt fit in a box that yโall want me to be in. Iโm too hood. Iโm too ghetto. Yโall told me that all year. But when other people do it, yโall say nothing.
โSo this was for the girls that look like me, thatโs going to speak up on what they believe in. Itโs unapologetically you. Thatโs what I did it for tonight. It was bigger than me tonight. It was bigger than me. Twitter is going to go on a rage every time, and Iโm happy. I feel like Iโve helped grow womenโs basketball this year. Iโm super happy and excited. So Iโm looking forward to celebrating in the next season.โ
Hours later, Reese showed everything but remorse after her polemic gestures during the match, and actually posted a photo of herself waving her hands in front of her face.
Clark holds her head high and praised the Tigers for their incredible exhibition
Even though the internet went mad over Reeseโs taunts, Caitlin Clark didnโt give a lot of attention to it. Believe it or not, the Iowa star said she had โno ideaโ that the LSU player was making these gestures, assuring she was focused on the game and simply feels grateful to have competed for the championship title until the final second.
โAll you can do is hold your head high, be proud of what you did, and all the credit in the world to LSU,โ she expressed after the contest. โThey were tremendous, they deserve it. They had a tremendous season. Kim Mulkey coached them so, so well. Sheโs one of the best basketball coaches of all time, and she only said really kind things to me in the handshake line, so Iโm very grateful for that too.โ
Check out the higlights of this Sundayโs title match in the video below:
About Reese, Clark insists she has no recollection of her actions. โBut honestly I have no idea,โ the Hawkeye star said. โI was just trying to spend the last few moments on the court with especially the five people that Iโve started 93 games with and relishing every second of that.โ
The Iowa sensation chose to leave the 2022/23 campaign on the high road, as she knows she broke the record for most points in a single NCAA Tournament for both menโs and womenโs competitions with 191, and sheโs off to an amazing start of her professional career.