Angel Reese Speaks Out After Flagrant Foul Against Caitlin Clark: ‘I Can’t Control The Refs’

“They affected the game, obviously, a lot tonight,” Reese said

Melissa Tamez/ Icon Sportswire, Andy Lyons/Getty

Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark
Angel Reese is addressing her flagrant foul against Caitlin Clark that had social media talking after their June 16 matchup.

After Reese was charged with a flagrant foul for hitting Clark in the head with her arm while attempting to take away the ball, she spoke out against the call during her postgame presser, calling it a “basketball play.”

“I can’t control the refs. They affected the game, obviously, a lot tonight,” according to Yahoo! Sports. “I’m always going for the ball. But y’all are going to play that clip, what, 20 times before Monday?”

Reese then questioned the lack of calls for the Fever, who went on to win 91-83. “I think we went up strong a lot of times and we didn’t get a lot of calls,” she said. “Going back and looking at the film, I saw a lot of calls that weren’t made. I guess some people got a special whistle.”

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After helping her team secure the win, Clark was asked how she felt about the flagrant foul call against Reese. The WNBA rookie said she chalked it up to a regular occurrence on the court. “It’s just a part of basketball. It is what it is. Just trying to make a play on the ball and get the block. It happens,” she said according to the Bleacher Report.

The former college rivals have fans eagerly awaiting each one of their WNBA matchups, and Clark said that the competition is what brings out the passion in the two rookies — which means sometimes things might get a bit physical.

Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty

Angel Reese
“That’s what makes it fun,” Clark said per the Bleacher Report. “We’re competitors. That’s the way the game should be. It’s going to get a little feisty, it’s going to get physical, but at the end of the day both teams are just trying to win.”

In February in her cover interview with Women’s Health, Reese explained that although she and Clark have rivalry on the court, the two can still be cool outside of basketball.

Related: Angel Reese Says She and Caitlin Clark Can Have Their Rivalry and ‘Still Be Cool After’

“I love that we’re able to compete and still be cool after, regardless of the outside noise,” the LSU star, 21, told the magazine. Reese added, “People even say Magic [Johnson] and Larry Bird, that era [of basketball] and how it was. If that’s who we are, then okay, cool. … I think we’re both happy about what’s going on.”

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Outrage after Caitlin Clark is whacked on the head by rival Angel Reese in latest WNBA dust up

Mike Bedigan
Sun, 16 June 2024 at 5:44 pm GMT-4·3-min read

The rivalry between WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese fired up again on Sunday after another on-court dust up (CBS Sports/ WNBA)

The rivalry between WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese fired up again on Sunday after another on-court dust-up where Reese hit Clark on the head during a foul.

In the final minutes of the game between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky, Clark was sent tumbling to the floor after being smacked by Reese. As Clark drove to the basket, Reese stretched up to stop her, connecting heavily. Officials checked the foul and later upgraded it to a Flagrant One – a term for an “unnecessary” foul.

Online users were quick to react, with some calling the move “petty” and “a cheap shot.” Others called for Reese to be banned.

“Angel Reese just clotheslined Caitlin Clark in the head as she went up for a lay-up. What a clown. The pettiness is so funny to watch,” wrote one user.

Caitlin Clark is fouled while driving to the basket pic.twitter.com/U9TvoFUoD3

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) June 16, 2024

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy immediately commented on the foul writing on X “Angelo Reese and the Sky doing Angel Reese and Sky stuff. By the way Caitlin is cooking them.”

However nobody everybody thought the play was over-the-top.

“Unpopular opinion but not every hard foul on Caitlin Clark is some kind of crime against humanity. This looks like the kind to foul you see in basketball all the time,” children’s author Matt Walsh wrote on X.

Clark dismissed the incident as “just part of basketball.” “It is what it is, she was trying to make a play on the ball and make the ball, it happens.”

The rivalry between the two stars has been ongoing since the 2023 women’s college basketball season, when Reese taunted Clark at the end of the national championship game when LSU beat Iowa. The next season the two met again, this time Clark’s Hawkeyes beating Reese in the Elite 8.

Earlier this month, Reese also notably leapt up and cheered when her Sky teammate Chennedy Carter hip-checked Clark – an incident that was later upgraded to a flagrant foul by the WNBA league office.

Despite this, Clark previously described Reese as a “tremendous player” and said it was “fun” competing with her.

The rivalry between WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese fired up again on Sunday after another on-court dust-up where Reese hit Clark on the head during a foul (Getty Images)
“I think what she’s [Reese] has done with her platform has been absolutely incredible. She has an entire fanbase that has supported her and what she did at Maryland and then LSU,” she said.

“Obviously, l’ve played her for a very long time, and she’s been a tremendous player. It’s been fun getting to compete against (Angel). I think it’s been really good for the game.

“People just love seeing great matchups, but also… they get to see how amazing these teams are. And then they find new players to support and continue to come back from them.”