The LSU Tigers and Angel Reese defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes and Caitlin Clark in one of the most celebrated championship games in the history of women’s basketball.
However, much media ado was paid to Reese harnessing Tony Yayo’s “U Can’t See Me” celebration to taunt Clark in the game’s final minutes. Clark had also used that celebration against the Maryland Terrapins, but Reese went out of her way after the game ended to point at her ring finger, implying the championship ring that would soon adorn it.
Reese recently told Sports Illustrated that she and Clark are “cool,” and that a double standard exists for female athletes who talk trash.
“Caitlin and I are cool,” she said. “It’s just being able to force people to accept that women can talk trash. The women’s side gets penalized for it, or we’re considered as not being ladylike and that we’re not playing by the rules. We work just as hard as the men. Women can be who we are; women can be competitive.”
Reese will star in SI’s forthcoming swimsuit issue, and editor MJ Day backed up her sentiments.
“Angel is combating the double standard in sports, especially for women. She is making a name for herself as a fierce competitor and an equally fierce advocate for growing the game of women’s basketball,” Day said. “Her intensity, drive and passion around being unapologetically herself and speaking up for what she believes in is helping move the needle forward for women in sports and is liberating the next generation to feel seen and heard. Our goal here is to help empower as many women as we can, and we’re beyond excited to do that alongside Angel Reese in the 2023 issue.”
