LSU women's basketball player Angel Reese has hit back after being slammed for "taunting" opponent Caitlin Clark.
During the NCAA title game on Sunday (April 2), the 20-year-old athlete threw up John Cena's famous "You Can't See Me" hand gesture during LSU Tigers' 102-85 win against Iowa Hawkeyes.
As well as the signature gesture, Reese was pointing to her ring finger to demonstrate to the 21-year-old's team where the championship title was going.
Some people in the sports industry didn't like the move and called Reese "classless" for celebrating, however, Clark used the same motion during the Elite Eight and Final Four and was commended for it.
Watch Reese "taunt" her opponent below:Over on Twitter, the word "classless" was trending with many people sharing their criticism. One critic wrote: "What a classless move by Angel Reese. Doing WAY too much to taunt Clark."
Another interjected: "This is classless. Angel Reese is only 20, so she’s still young but taunting Caitlin Clark like this shows a pure lack of class. Win with class, lose with class, play with class. Clark’s mom and dad can be proud that [their] daughter ignored the taunting. They raised her right."
However, a third user questioned why it wasn't "classless" when Clark did it, and stated: "Let the women compete, it’s sports!!" A second person added: "If you celebrated Clark for doing this but not Angel Reese you gotta take a long, long look in the mirror."
Nevertheless, the basketballer stated in her post-game interview that the selective outrage does not bother her because all year she had been "critiqued" for her identity.
Watch her post-game interview below:"All year, I was critiqued about who I was," Reese said. "The narrative - I don’t fit the narrative. I don't fit into the box that y’all want me to be in. 'I'm too hood. I’m too ghetto.' Y’all told me that all year. But, when other people do it, y’all don’t say nothing."
The athlete - who transferred from Maryland to LSU last summer - said this victory is for "the girls that look like me," advising them to be "unapologetically you".
"And, that’s what I did it for tonight. It was bigger than me tonight. Twitter is gonna go on a rage every time. And, I’m happy. I feel like I've helped grow women's basketball this year," she concluded.
Despite the criticism, Reese has received support from LeBron James who retweeted Emmanuel Acho's tweet denouncing those who attacked Reese but not Clark.
The Lakers star also shared Ryan Clark's message on Twitter which read: "If you praised Caitlin Clark as competitive, fiery, and passionate for doing the 'You can’t See me' celebration and are criticizing Angel Reese for the same we already know!!"
This was the first-ever NCAA title for the LSU women's basketball team. Congratulations!
