A wise man named Finesse2tymes once said, “It's cool when they do it, it's a problem when I do it/ fuck 'em.”
That situation played itself out during the NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship game on Sunday when Louisiana State University star forward Angel Reese taunted Iowa guard Caitlin Clark with Clark’s “you can’t see me celebration.”
The Tigers had the game on lock and were minutes away from winning their first national championship in school history when Reese followed Clark around the bench pointing at her ring finger, indicating that LSU had not only won the game, but whooped Iowa’s ass while they were at it.
And LSU indeed won. By a lot.
When the buzzer sounded, the Tigers defeated the Hawkeyes 102-85 and led by as much as 21 points at one point in the game.
But the talk after the game wasn’t about the 19-point second half from LSU guard Alexis Morris or how the Tigers shot 11 for 17 from behind the arc.
Instead, the talk on social media sites was about how Reese was “classless” and “unsportsmanlike.”
Some sports commentators, such as Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy and former ESPN anchor Keith Olbermann, took it a step further.
“Classless piece of shit,” Portnoy said in a tweet after LSU’s win on Sunday.
“What a fucking idiot,” Olbermann said in a tweet on Sunday.’
Not only does this type of rhetoric paint a picture of Reese that is untrue, but it spreads this notion that athletes are supposed to remain humble and quiet during games which is just untrue.
Portnoy and Olbermann weren’t the only people who thought a Black woman talking trash was “out of bounds.” Many people in Reese’s twitter mentions were very adamant that the 6-foot, 3-inch forward “crossed the line” and even resorted to using racial dog whistles to describe her character.
It’s interesting that when Clark, a white player, did the same exact taunt against Louisville two games earlier, she was applauded for her toughness and gamesmanship on the floor.
But when Reese, a Black player, does the taunt, she is looked at as “hood” or “ghetto.”
Even though Reese’s haters will say they just care about the sanctity of the game, it’s obvious they just don’t like seeing Black athletes, specifically Black women, having fun while they dominate the game they play.
It’s especially concerning because it’s a double standard for white and Black players.
For example, Boston Celtics’ legend Larry Bird was a notorious trash talker who started hand-to-hand combat with players just to get in their heads. He’s revered as a tough-minded player who just had an extra edge to him.
Meanwhile if LeBron James even smiles after a big play, he is conceived by old media heads as “cocky” or a “showboater.”
This is a problem that expands to Black athletes in other sports as well.
In a study done by Andscape, they found that 90% of penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct in the NFL since 2018 were called on Black players.
Andscape is an ESPN-owned media company, reporting on the intersection of race and sports.
Even the way that Clark’s trash talking was covered, compared to Reese’s, is vastly different.
On Friday, ESPN aired a segment on Sportscenter titled “Caitlin Clark: Queen of Clapbacks,” in which they interviewed teammates and coaches about some of Clark’s best trash talk on the floor.
Among the clips shown, there was a video of Clark telling another “shut up, you’re down by 15,” in a tournament game against Louisville.
No one was calling Clark unsportsmanlike or thought less of her character because of her trash talk. Instead, she was labeled as a transcendent athlete taking over women’s sports with her entertaining jabs at other players.
It is a privilege that white athletes have enjoyed from other white fans who watch sports.
They weren’t seen as cocky, they were just passionate. It wasn’t unsportsmanlike, it was fiery.
To be fair, Clark has not fired back against LSU. She praised the Tigers after the loss and took the taunting with a grain of salt.
“All the credit in the world to LSU. They were tremendous. They deserve it. They had a tremendous season,” Clark said after the loss.
Clark didn’t ask for people to defend her, but those who did have gone to such extremes to paint the picture of Reese as a heartless woman who kicked her opponent while she was down.
They take pity on Clark because they saw a white woman losing.
It’s even gone as far as First Lady Jill Biden saying she wants to invite both LSU and Iowa to the White House to celebrate the Tiger’s win, according to a Monday Associated Press article.
Let’s cut the bullshit: if the shoe was on the other foot and Clark taunted Reese in a blowout championship game loss, Jill Biden would have not invited the LSU Tigers to the White House.
Reese is not a villain in this situation.
In fact, the Baltimore native who put up 23 points and 15 a night this past season is good for women’s sports. Her expressive presence combined with her sheer talent only brings more eyeballs to women’s college basketball.
She is the type of player who people tune in to watch to either see her succeed or fail.
The bigger point in all of this is that it’s fucking basketball. As much as people want to believe sports is a hand-holding kumbaya moment, it’s not.
These games are ruthless, especially when a championship is on the line. Emotions run high and some players feel the need to grab an edge by trying to get in their opponent’s head.
I am a big proponent of more trash talking, rivalries and heated moments in sports. It’s entertaining and makes the game fun.
But the double standard needs to stop. Stop demonizing Black women who are great at what they do and have no problem letting people know.
Just sit back, kick your feet up and enjoy the fucking game.
