After Louisiana State University’s women’s basketball forward Angel Reese made a gesture at opponent Caitlin Clark during the NCAA championship game Sunday, onlookers were quick to criticize her behavior as “classless.”
Soon, however, those critics were being given their own label on social media: hypocrites.
During the second half of the final game, Reese, who helped lead her team to victory, waved her hand in front of her face and pointed to her ring finger, implying that her team would win the game and the NCAA women’s basketball title. LSU defeated Iowa 101-85.
The gesture trended on Twitter and buzzed across social media — a breakout moment during the final game in a season of record-breaking audiences for the NCAA women’s basketball.
The exchange happened between two excelling players this season; Reese was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship, and Clark was named Naismith Player of the Year. But many couldn’t help but point out the lack out outrage when Clark, who is white, made the same gesture at Reese, who is Black, during a previous game.
Politics and sports commentator Keith Olbermann tweeted that Reese was being an “idiot.” Others tweeted that Reese’s move was “classless.” In fact, the word “classless” began trending on Twitter on Sunday after Reese made the gesture.
On social media, many asked those criticizing Reese if they had done the same with Clark, who made the same gesture during the Elite Eight matchup against Louisville.
“If you didn’t say it was classless when Caitlin Clark did it to her opponents then don’t say it about Angel Reese either,” tweeted former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III.
In a back-and-forth, Griffin followed up that he had watched both games and saw no backlash to Clark’s hand wave.
“You had no problem with any of that,” Griffin wrote of Clark’s gesture. “When you celebrate, your opponent will come back and steal your celebration and make sure you see it. If you…
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