Flau’jae Johnson explains defense of Angel Reese: ‘She had the weight of the world on her shoulder’

Flau’jae Johnson has Angel Reese’s back. When LSU lost to Iowa in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament earlier this year, Johnson halted the press conference to defend Reese’s name from the critics.

“Man, let me tell you something. Everybody can have their opinion on Angel Reese, but y’all don’t know her. Y’all don’t know Angel Reese,” Johnson said. “I know Angel Reese. I know the real Angel Reese, and the person I see every day is a strong person, is a caring, loving person. But the crown she wears is heavy. She’s the type of teammate that’s going to make you believe in yourself.

“The leap that I took to my freshman to sophomore year, Angel gave me that confidence to go be a dog, playing next to a dog every day, just to see how the media ridicules her. Went through our problems, but this is my sister right here, and I’m so proud of her.”

After LSU’s championship run in the 2022-23 season, Reese’s popularity skyrocketed. However, with more eyes on her, Reese also received far more criticism. The LSU standout especially became a target to fans across the country after she threw Caitlin Clark’s celebration back at her in the 2023 National Championship.

In her final year at LSU, Reese’s fame only grew. From accomplishments on the court to stunning NIL deals off it, Reese was in the headlines on a daily basis. Unfortunately, these headlines weren’t always building up Reese.

During an appearance on “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” Flau’jae Johnson reflected on the hatred Reese faced on a daily basis during her time at LSU and how she dealt with it.

“People forget social media isn’t real life,” Johnson said. “Behind the keyboard, behind the clicks and behind all the clickbait, it’s still real people and real feelings and real emotions. I just felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She was carrying it very well but, at the same time, people [are] human.

“Because of how she is on the court, people have tried to make it like that’s all her but it’s not. I just felt like it was a lot of scrutiny going on and it was getting on my nerves. I hate bad vibes. I love pushing positivity. The fact that she was getting all that hate, I was like, ‘We supposed to be a good time. We’re birthing WNBA superstars right now. They still figuring it out too.'”