Some passionate sportsmanship has been exposing deep-seated racism in sports. LSU star Angel Reese got some extreme backlash after competitively telling a white opponent, “You can’t see me,” during a game after the same player had been spotted doing it to others. ESPN commentator Keith Olbermann retweeted a video clip of the exchange and called Reese “a f****** idiot.” It did not take long for people to clap back in her defense.
Shaquille O’Neal was the first with something to say. In his own Tweet, he responded, “Shut your dumb a** up [and] leave angel Reese alone.” Olbermann clarified shortly afterward that he was unaware that Caitlin Clark, the white player, had also done the same thing in prior games.
While Reese’s team emerged victorious in the game, further controversy came when the First Lady Jill Biden invited BOTH teams to the White House to celebrate, which is not usually done. Reese and her team have declined the offer and got support from sports journalist Stephen A. Smith. “That’s a bad suggestion. Runner-ups don’t get invited to the White House. Why are we trying to change it now?”
Shannon Sharpe called out the hypocrisy as well. He noted that Cailtin Clark was celebrated for her “swag” 48 hours earlier when she did the “John Cena” hand gesture, but when Reese did it, it became controversial. “You stoop so low to call a college kid, a female, a f****** idiot because she did a gesture when you didn’t say anything when Clark did it!” he lamented during an interview.
