The Competition

LSU women’s basketball star Angel Reese waved her hand in front of her face, mimicking her opponent, Caitlin Clark, who plays for the Iowa Hawkeyes. The hand gesture is the signature John Cena “you-can’t-see-me” gesture. Friendly competition at its finest, but of course, the mainstream media blew it out of proportion. Reese led LSU to their first-ever NCAA national championship victory with a final score of 102-85. This also earned her the Final Four’s most outstanding player title! Instead of celebrating, she was a trending topic, but not the good kind. During the drama, one particular person caught her attention; it was First Lady Jill Biden and her comment, which left a bad taste in Reese’s mouth.

The Aftermath

“You can’t go back on certain things that you say. You felt that they should have come because of ‘sportsmanship,’ right? (Iowa) can have that spotlight; we’ll go to the Obamas. We’ll see, Michelle. We’ll see Barack,” said Reese during an appearance on the “I Am Athlete” podcast.

Biden realized how volatile the situation was online and offered a suggestion she presumed would ease tension. She introduced the idea of both teams, LSU and Iowa, coming to the White House. While her thoughts were well placed, and it is easy to infer the idea came with good intentions, this contributes to the larger problem at hand.

The problem is the way the public receives Black women, specifically in sports. It’s important to remember that the game is a competition; players have a competitive nature, and that is their domain. Intruding on people’s businesses, like Reese’s and how she expresses herself during a competition, to share misogynistic and degrading opinions is cruel. The insatiable desire to humble Black women when they’re excelling in their domain and displaying appropriate emotions, like a celebratory fist pump or a competition-friendly gesture toward an opponent, while in their element is strange.

Serena Williams has suffered from this multiple times; one of the most memorable instances was at the 2018 U.S. Open. Williams was labeled harshly in the media and treated poorly on the internet when she got into a disagreement with umpire Carlos Ramos during the game. Ramos accused her coach of helping her during the game. Williams attempted to defend herself but ended up being penalized for verbal abuse, resulting in a $17,000 fine.

Reese has made it clear she has no interest in meeting with President Joe Biden and the first lady. Biden was in Houston to watch the game in person. LSU declined to have Biden speak in their locker room before tipoff. “We said we didn’t want to,” Reese said. “I think Joe Biden put somebody else to win the national championship. He didn’t even put us on his bracket, getting out of Baton Rouge, so I was like, ‘Bet. bet.’ I think he said we were going to lose to Michigan (in the second round) or something.”

Caitlin Clark spoke out in defense of her opponent, Reese, reiterating that the game is a competition and that she is not offended. She doubled down on her stance that Reese should not be receiving any type of criticism. She also believes that it is not appropriate to break tradition and travel to the White House after losing; that’s for the champions.

The Applause for Angel Reese

Reese is a sophomore forward for LSU, and she has a strong sense of self-worth. Reese was thirsty to win, and she and the LSU team worked hard for that opportunity. All the teams gave it their all, but LSU was the victor. Imagine being thirsty and you order your favorite drink, but it takes forever to make because it is handcrafted. When your drink finally gets to you, you’re excited, you’re ready, and when you take a sip, it’s been watered down. Black women shouldn’t be expected to conform to this idea that they should win silently and share their spotlight without complaint. Black women shouldn’t have to water down their personalities, successes, achievements, or celebrations. Black women deserve the same celebration and bragging rights as everyone else. Reese deserves a standing ovation for her confidence and ability to hold her position when it comes to her worth.

Update

As of April 11:

Angel Reese continues to gain momentum and receive a large amount of national exposure. Over the weekend, the situation with Reese and First Lady Biden was turned into a parody skit on Saturday Night Live. Reese has also decided to play at LSU for one more year. She was ranked as one of the highest-paid student-athletes, but after winning the championship, her NIL valuation increased from $480,000 to $1.3 million. She is now one of 23 college athletes to have a valuation of over $1 million or more.

LSU has confirmed that when the White House extends the invitation for the team to visit, they will accept.

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