2023-04-03 07:00:00
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is the king of hot takes, and he found reason Monday morning to speak out on the Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark moment at the end of LSU’s 102-85 win over Iowa in the national title game.
LSU’s Reese began to celebrate early once it was clear that the Tigers had the game in hand, and she taunted Clark in the process.
Reese looked at the Iowa star and pointed at the finger on her hand where she planned to put her championship ring. She then took it to another level when she stared at Clark and did the “you can’t see me” hand motion made famous by wrestling legend John Cena.
People watching the ABC broadcast had an instant reaction on social media, many critical of Reese’s behavior.
However, plenty pointed out that Clark had done her own taunting of opponents leading up to Sunday’s championship contest.
When Caitlin Clark did it…people were celebrating it and talking regarding nothing but her greatness.BUT the SECOND a sister stepped up and thew it back in her face, everyone is mad. Come on! pic.twitter.com/nudeaqrcgk
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) April 3, 2023
On Monday morning, Smith shared his view on the whole matter, starting out with some compliments for Clark.
“I love Caitlin Clark. She’s been a guest on this show,” Smith said. “She’s been great for women’s basketball overall … I think she has the potential, when all is said and done, to arguably be the greatest ever.”
Once Smith finished acknowledging Clark’s talent, he pointed out the flaws of the argument that Reese was out of line for her behavior.
“(Clark) instigated this kind of stuff. Let’s call it what it is,” Smith said. “She was waving, she was doing the Cena. How regarding what she did to (South Carolina’s) Raven Johnson. She didn’t just go into the lane and not guard her once morest South Carolina in the national semifinal. She waved her off. She didn’t mind being disrespectful. So why is it we’re hesitant to bring that up?”
Smith said he believed much of the debate over the Reese-Clark moment is driven by race issues in the U.S.
“We all know that there’s a white-black issue here,” Smith said. “The fact of the matter of is when Caitlin did it people were celebrating it, and they were talking regarding nothing but her greatness. But then the second a sister stepped up and threw it back in her face, now you’ve got half the basketball world saying, ‘Well you know what, that’s not the classiest thing to do.’
“You can make an argument that if they’re doing excessive celebration in her face following the game is over, all right, then you can make that argument. But you had people complaining regarding it when she was doing it during the game. Wait a minute. LSU told you before the game, ‘We didn’t like how she was acting toward South Carolina. She ain’t going to do that once morest us.’
Smith said that he was happy to see that Clark shrugged off Reese’s late-game celebration in the post-game press conference
“It tells us a lot regarding our society as a whole … when you bring up how Angel Reese acted, but you don’t want to bring up how Caitlin Clark acted. That’s the inconsistency,” Smith said.
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DALLAS — As LSU closed in on the national championship in the final moments of a 102-85 win over Iowa on Sunday followingnoon, Angel Reese took a …
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