The national championship game between LSU and Iowa in the 2023 women’s NCAA tournament was everything college basketball could have ever wanted. The Tigers were one of the best teams in the country, Caitlin Clark is the biggest star in the game, and more visibility than ever thanks to the mystique and allure provided by the Angel Reese vs. Caitlin Clark matchup, which morphed into its own version of Magic vs. Bird.
Angel Reese taunting Caitlin Clark was fair game, not ‘classless’
Saying Angel Reese is ‘classless’ is dog whistling at its worst.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
The end result might not have been what we wanted to see because of how refs turned themselves into a focal point of the evening, but far more unfortunate is the ear-splitting dog whistling following LSU’s win, and all because of one moment.
This is the most tame, benign shit-talking imaginable. Savage? Sure, but absolutely warranted. People loved Clark’s swagger when she taunted Louisville while dropping 41 points, but when Reese did the exact same thing, suddenly the conversation devolved into how “disrespectful” Reese was, how “classless” she acted, how Reese didn’t “win with grace.” All the hits, now sung loudly by the same chorus who posted Clark’s preening over Louisville non-stop.
It’s not the least bit surprising that this happened. Racial dog whistling has been in the fabric of American sports for generations. Babe Ruth pointing to center field and calling a home run is venerated, but God-forbid a person of color flips a bat or the entire decorum of baseball is in tatters. Hell, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this dichotomy in college basketball either — it was the core tenet of the rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in 1979, when Michigan State and Indiana State met in the national championship.
Despite both Magic and Bird being legendary taunters and shit talkers, only Magic got branded as the player lacking “class.” Bird was the golden child, the corn-fed great white hope who would “save” basketball by playing “the right way.” This continued into their NBA careers and is remains part of their rivalry.
A chasm of 44 years still isn’t wide enough to stop that dog whistle’s sound from carrying. The innate need to find a villain in every rivalry turned its sights on LSU vs. Iowa, and prejudiced tradition tells us that when a grudge match involves a white athlete and a black athlete, the white player is always going to be pushed as the hero. So, when Reese dared to taunt Clark it rallied a very particular kind of person (read: assholes) to pick up sword and shield to decry Reese.
The part that’s supremely unfair about this is that Caitlin Clark didn’t ask for this defense. She didn’t cry or moan, or clap back at Reese. The Iowa phenom was infinitely more mature than the vapid-minded screaming about Reese on Twitter. Clark knew she got got, that Iowa couldn’t walk the walk when it came to LSU. After scoring 14 points in the first quarter the Tigers’ defense clamped down on Clark, holding her to 16 in the final three. It was another astonishingly good game by Clark overall, but Iowa just didn’t have the depth of talent behind Clark that LSU had with Alexis Morris, LaDazhia Williams and Flau’jae Johnson supporting Reese.
Taunting is incredible when it involves superstars in a big game. At its heart sports are a physical and emotional outlet. A venue where people can compete and showcase athletic excellence. As fans we marvel not only at their talents, but the drama and stories that unfold as a result. There’s a reason iconic moments like Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game,” or Joe Namath guaranteeing a Jets Super Bowl are burned in our memories, but any number of incredible moments without drama are lost to time.
Red Sox vs. Yankees. Duke vs. Carolina. Cowboys vs. Eagles. They exist because of hatred and because of moments. Reese and Clark brought that to women’s college basketball in a way we really haven’t seen in the past, transcending traditional fandoms and taking it to the sports world at large. Reese’s individual brilliance was largely overshadowed by Clark capturing all the attention in the tournament, so when Reese had the chance to assert her dominance, she did — just like Clark did against Louisville.
Any attempts to demarcate or find differences in how Reese and Clark taunted is just part of the dog whistle. If you’re trying to bend over backwards to defend Clark while slamming Reese you are in serious need of introspection. These were two superstars, showing the swagger superstars show, and in the end Reese won this round, while Clark licked her wounds. With both Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark returning to school we might get to do this again next year, circling the date of when LSU and Iowa meet to see the next round in this rivalry.
There’s nothing “classless” about this. It’s what sports are all about.
Update: Caitlin Clark commented on the taunting during the National Championship Game, and defended Angel Reese.
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