Jay Williams defends Angel Reese amid online criticism

The focus of yesterday’s national championship game should be on the fact that Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers claimed their first-ever national title. Instead, they’re currently the talk of the sports world considering some of their taunts down the stretch of the win at the expense of Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Even so, Jay Williams isn’t here for that narrative whatsoever. In a tweet on Monday morning, he highlighted how some of the best players and competitors in history have been top-notch trash talkers yet, when viewed through the same lens, weren’t ever labeled as ‘classless’. So, now that we’re over 12 hours after the fact, Williams wants to know why the public is still labeling Reese that way.

Tom Brady one of the biggest trash talkers all of time. Michael Jordan is the biggest trash talkers EVER. They get glorified bc they win right. Are
They classless?

— Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) April 3, 2023

As far as their play, Reese had every reason to talk. Individually, she put up her 34th double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. She also added five assists, three steals, and a block in her box score. Then, as a team, she helped LSU to score a national title game record of 102 points in Dallas against the Hawkeyes.

Yet, with that said, quite literally all the attention is now on the ring pointing and the hand wave towards Clark. The spotlight might have initially been on the outcome but, since then, there have been takes from all over on the matter.

Still, Williams, along with Reese and her teammates for that matter, have zero tolerance for some of the designations that they’ve earned since yesterday. It’s not that you can’t describe them as ‘classless’ if that’s how you genuinely feel. It’s that, considering yesterday’s final score, everyone should be describing Reese and the Tigers as ‘champions’ first and foremost.

Reese sends message to critics of taunt

The taunt heard ’round the world. LSU‘s dominant 102-85 win over Iowa in the 2023 Women’s National Championship game was highlighted and capped off by some showmanship from Tiger’s star forward Angel Reese.

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark gave John Cena’s famous ‘You Can’t See Me’ celebration some new life during the NCAA Tournament, using the gesture in the Hawkeyes Elite Eight victory over Louisville. And in the closing moments of Sunday’s championship game, Reese gave Clark a taste of her own medicine by doing the gesture in her face when the Tigers had the victory in hand.

Some greeted Reese with some backlash for her celebration, which she responded to following her championship win.

“I’m happy, I mean all year I was critiqued about who I was. I don’t fit the narrative, I don’t fit in the box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood, I’m too ghetto. Y’all told me that all year. But when other people do it, y’all don’t say nothing,” Reese said.

“So this is for the girls that look like me,” Reese continued. “That’s gonna speak up on what they believe in, it’s unapologetically you, and that’s what I did it for tonight. This was bigger than me tonight, it was bigger than me. Twitter’s gonna go on a rage every time and I’m happy, I feel like I’ve helped grow women’s basketball this year, I’m super happy and excited so I’m looking forward to celebrating into next season.”