Obviously much to his chagrin, Chicago Sky player Angel Reese has now lost to star WNBA player Caitlin Clark three times in a row, once in college and twice in the WNBA. The latest incident came on Sunday, June 16, when Clark and the Fever beat the Sky 91-83. Reese, in response, said not that she needed to improve, but that the referees were to blame.
As background, Reese ended up sitting out on foul for much of the game, as she kept repeatedly fouling and repeatedly getting caught doing so by the refs. By far the most shocking of those fouls came when she hit Caitlin Clark, her obvious rival, in the head with her forearm. Many online were shocked by that foul and called out the league for letting players attack Clark time and time again in games.
Reese, predictably, didn’t take personal responsibility for the consequences she faced for fouling Clark and others repeatedly. Instead, when asked about the referees and her time out of the game in the post-game press conference, Clark did not hold back and went on a rant about how really it was the referees who were to blame.
Clark said, attacking and blaming the refs, “For inside, I think we were playing really hard. I think we went up really strong, and a lot of times, we didn’t get a lot of calls.” Continuing, she kept doing so and suggested that the refs were biased on the side of Clark, saying, “And 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, but just being able to play as best as we can.”
She then congratulated a teammate before going back to blaming the referees for how it went, saying, “I’m proud of Kamilla going out and still getting a double-double. That’s something that y’all are not going to be able to stop, regardless of the referees, like, we’re here for a while; we’re not going to be denied, no matter what you guys try to do. Our goal is to win, we’re going to do whatever it takes to win and continue to do that.”
Watch her here:
Clark spoke, after the game, a player named Cameron Brink, noting that it was a tragedy that she hurt her ACL in the game. “Obviously devastating. You never want to see anybody deal with any sort of injury, obviously an injury of that magnitude,” Clark said. “I know she’s the type of person that will be able to get through it and come out through it stronger. Just breaks your heart,” Clark continued.
She went on to say, ” She’s such a good basketball player, but an even better person. … She was obviously having a great start to her rookie season and then seeing something obviously so devastating like this, but I know she’ll come back stronger. I know so many people are thinking of her and praying for her and I’m sure she’s overwhelmed by the support right now. Knowing the type of person she is, this will only make her better in the long run.”
Watch her here:
Caitlin Clark on her reaction to hearing about Cameron Brink’s torn ACL:
“Knowing the type of person she is, this will only make her better in the long run.” pic.twitter.com/CYN7pduO5a
— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) June 19, 2024
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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