Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese is having a tough week. Her head coach, Teresa Witherspoon, who helped lead her to her Rookie of the Year candidacy, was reportedly fired Thursday, and Reese said she was “heartbroken” in a post on X.
Reese also addressed another big issue that has been bothering her in another X post Thursday.
“For the past two years, the media has benefited from my pain and me being villainized to create a narrative. They allowed this. This was beneficial to them. I sometimes share my experiences of things that have happened to me but I’ve also allowed this to happen to me for way too long and now other players in this league are dealing with and experiencing the same things,” Reese wrote.
“This isn’t ok at all. Anything beyond criticism about playing the game we love is wrong. I’m sorry to all the players that have/continue to experience the same things I have. This is why I started my podcast. To take my voice back and create the narrative of who I really am. At the end of the day, I don’t want an apology nor do I think this will ever stop but something has to change.”
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Chicago Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon speaks with Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese during the second half against the Dallas Wings at College Park Center. (Kevin Jairaj/USA Today Sports)
Reese launched her own podcast, “Unapolagetically Angel” Sept. 5 and has released new episodes weekly. She has used the podcast to share her struggles with public backlash affecting her mental health multiple times since launching the podcast.
In her first episode, posted Sept. 5, Reese specifically called out alleged harassment she has received from fans of rival player Caitlin Clark.
“I think it’s really just the fans, her fans, the Iowa fans, now the Indiana fans, that are really just, they ride for her, and I respect that, respectfully. But sometimes it’s very disrespectful. I think there’s a lot of racism when it comes to it,” Reese said.
Reese mentioned death threats and people going to her home as examples of measures Clark’s fans have taken in response to their rivalry.
“People have come down to my address, followed me home. It’s come down to that,” Reese said.
Reese even alleges that some fans have made AI-generated images of her, depicting her without clothes on, and sending them to relatives of hers.
INSIDE CAITLIN CLARK AND ANGEL REESE’S IMPACT ON MEN’S BASKETBALL
Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark during the second half June 23, 2024, at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. (Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“Multiple occasions, people have made AI images of me naked. They have sent it to my family members. My family members are like uncles, sending it to me like, ‘Are you naked on Instagram?’” Reese said. “It sucks having to go through that and see other players have to go through that.”
Reese has claimed she has been the victim of widespread online harassment, and it first ramped up when she and her college team, LSU, defeated Clark and Iowa in the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball championship game. When LSU held a big lead in the final minutes of that game, Reese pointed to her ring finger in a now-infamous photo that angered some of Clark’s fans. On her podcast, Reese said that moment “changed my life forever.”
In this year’s tournament, when Clark and Iowa got their revenge against Reese in the Final Four, Reese cried at the postgame press conference when she revealed the allegations of harassment earlier that year. Reese also brought controversy to herself that year during a mysterious weeks-long absence from the team.
“I’ve been through so much,” she told reporters during the postgame news conference. “I’ve seen so much. I’ve been attacked so many times, death threats. I’ve been sexualized. I’ve been threatened. I’ve been so many things, and I’ve stood strong every single time.”
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Angel Reese, right, of the LSU Lady Tigers reacts toward Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes during the fourth quarter of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game at American Airlines Center April 2, 2023, in Dallas, Texas. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Reese’s teammate, Hailey Van Lith, blamed racism for the treatment of Reese at that same press conference.
“A lot of the people that are making those comments are being racist towards my teammates,” Van Lith said.
As a WNBA rookie, Reese averaged 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game and broke the record for most rebounds in a single season. She had season-ending surgery in early September. MVP A’ja Wilson then broke Reese’s rebounding record before the end of the regular season. The Sky finished 13-27 and failed to make the playoffs for the first time in five years.
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