Angel Reese’s comments about being a villain in the WNBA were missing key context, and a newly surfaced clip of her full quote potentially shifts the narrative of what Reese was conveying to the media.
It’s been a long few days in the WNBA since Chennedy Carter hip-checked Caitlin Clark. The internet has been in shambles, and so has the media landscape, including the folks at ESPN. The discourse over Caitlin Clark and the WNBA has also been swirling the Chicago Sky, prompting comments from Angel Reese, who spoke about how the chatter that has been brewing since the 2023 Iowa-LSU women’s college basketball national championship.
Reese’s comments included her stating that she’s okay with being the “bad guy” in the story if it helps women’s basketball grow and builds a legacy for her. But what was missing from that viral clip was that Reese wasn’t just talking about herself. She was also talking about the many players who have helped grow the WNBA. Here’s what she said:
“And just looking at that, I’ll that that role. I’ll take the ‘bad guy’ role, and I’ll continue to take that on and be that for my teammates… I’ll look back in 20 years and be like, ‘yeah, the reason why [we’re] watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person’. It’s because of me, too, and I want y’all to realize that.”
“Like it’s not just because of one person. A lot of us have done so much for this game…there are so many great players in this league that have deserved this for a really, really long time, and luckily, it’s coming now.”
Crazy thing is they cut off right before she said
“a lot of us have done so much for this game and… there are so many other players in this league that have deserved this for a really really long time”
but that doesn’t fit the narrative🤧 https://t.co/iuJhnfoF7H pic.twitter.com/N8Lrud9qq2
— lilly✨ (@lilly__lover) June 3, 2024
Turns out Angel Reese did end up saying “because of all of us” so the whole WNBA is rocking with her. This part was edited out of the viral clip. S/0 @SiobhanBeslow for getting me right 👊🏾 https://t.co/ysSYGVlbgK pic.twitter.com/SmrRXpUBzG
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) June 4, 2024