Angel Reese got ejected for a rather lame reason?

On Tuesday night, the Chicago Sky suffered an 88-75 defeat at the hands of the New York Liberty, with the latter going on a 23-9 spurt in the fourth quarter to turn the game on its head. However, the Sky’s defeat, as convincing as it may have been, did not come without its fair share of controversy. In the fourth quarter, rookie forward Angel Reese drew the ire of referee Charles Watson and proceeded to draw two technical fouls in quick succession, forcing her into an early exit.

With 2:31 left in the fourth quarter and the Sky trailing the Liberty, 82-71, Reese was called for a loose ball foul after Jonquel Jones had hauled in an offensive rebound. Reese was clearly frustrated, and understandably so, given how her team fell flat in the fourth quarter. She had some words for the official, and he promptly called her for a technical foul. The rookie then waved off the official in frustration, which then forced the official’s hand, ejecting her from the game.

Not too many fans were pleased with the way the referee handled his business; many believed that Angel Reese, whatever her actions may have been, did not warrant an ejection. Perhaps a technical foul was justified, depending on what the Sky forward said in response to the initial foul, but an ejection seemed overboard, at least based off what everyone saw on television.

“That Angel Reese ejection was nothing more than the ref trying to make a name for himself. Nobody [came] to see you,” wrote one fan.

In fact, one fan was reminded of Tim Duncan’s infamous ejection at the hands of Joey Crawford; as one would recall, the San Antonio Spurs legend was tossed from the game for laughing.

“I’m really not a fan of Angel Reese, but this ejection was awful. I don’t care what she said. Reminiscent of the famous Tim Duncan ejection,” another wrote.

Frustrations abound for Angel Reese and the Sky

Apparently, Angel Reese drew a technical foul for screaming out “that’s bulls**t” in frustration over a foul call. That seems very tame. It’s understandable why Reese would feel hard done by a loose ball foul in the dying embers of the game. First of all, the Sky have had troubles scoring the ball throughout the fourth quarter as the Liberty took a double-digit lead. The last thing she wanted is to be penalized for playing hard, which is what she was trying to do in contesting the offensive rebound.

Reese herself had a rough shooting night; she went 3-12 from the field, with a 7-8 night from the foul line rescuing her overall line on the night, to finish with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Frustrations simply mounted for her amid the Sky’s fourth-quarter troubles. Thus, her reaction was understandable; in fact, you can bet that over the course of the game, many worse things were said.

“The ref gave double techs and ejected Angel Reese for her just saying ‘that’s bulls**t’….oh that ref lame AF!!!” a fan wrote. Another added, “Angel Reese literally got 2 Tech’s for saying, ‘That’s Bulls**t’ to the ref. What a joke. One of the softest ejections I’ve ever seen.”

Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon said after the game, per Karli Bell of Marquee Sports Network, that she asked the officials for a justification over Angel Reese’s ejection. Weatherspoon said that she was not able to get an explanation, further stirring the pot of what is an extremely frustrating situation.

“They couldn’t even tell her coach why she was ejected. Literally just ejected Angel Reese because of his authority over her. Damn shame,” wrote @MayaJujit.

Sabrina Ionescu has the rookie’s back

In fact, even one of Angel Reese’s opponents on the night, Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, couldn’t believe that the officials would eject the Sky forward based off what she had said.

“She got two techs just for saying that’s bulls**t?” Ionescu said following the play as caught by a hot mic, per Eric Nemchock of SB Nation’s Swish Appeal.

Fans then feel even more justified about their sentiments towards Angel Reese’s baffling ejection. After all, even Sabrina Ionescu was perplexed over what had transpired.

“Sabrina Ionescu on the hot mic questioning the validity of a double tech ejection for Angel Reese saying ‘that’s bulls**t’. She’s out here advocating for the rookies on every time. Bad take by the refs, leave the ego at home and let the game roll,” wrote @marasaravic.

The rookies are certainly having it rough to start the year. Every fan who has followed the WNBA this season is familiar with all the Caitlin Clark drama, and now, Angel Reese finds herself drawing the short end of the officiating stick.