Chicago Sky player Angel Reese committed a flagrant foul on June 16 against the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark after making contact with Clark’s head, video shows. However, she defended herself in a post-game interview, blaming the referees and saying she made a “basketball play.”
The play was reviewed after Clark fell to the ground, video shows. There was “unnecessary contact to the head,” the referee said during the ESPN broadcast, announcing the foul was a flagrant 1.
According to ESPN, a flagrant 1 foul is defined as one that “is interpreted to be unnecessary.” In contrast, a flagrant 2 foul, which was not called against Reese, is for actions deemed “excessive.”
“It was a basketball play,” Reese said in the post-game press conference. “I can’t control the refs. They affected the game obviously a lot tonight. I’m always going for the ball. Y’all are going to play that clip 20 times before Monday, so. This clip is going to get out somewhere, I know.”
The Fever defeated the Sky 91-83.
The foul comes over controversy about the game’s physicality after Sky player Chennedy Carter committed a flagrant foul by body-checking Clark during a different game. Clark’s popularity with marketers and the media has led to accusations of racism and fueled tensions. For example, “View” host Sunny Hostin said on the air that she believed Clark was benefiting from white privilege and “pretty privilege.”
Angel Reese Said the Chicago Sky Team Was 'Playing Really Hard
The play came in the third quarter when Clark was driving toward the basket. That’s when Reese made contact with her head.
“Clark hammered. Three Chicago Sky players coming over,” the announcer said in the ESPN broadcast.
“The foul, I believe to Angel Reese, yep across the head,” the announcer said.
Shocker. Angelo Reese and the Sky doing Angel Reese and Sky stuff. By the way Caitlin is cooking them. #caitlinclark
Reese said during the post-game press conference, “Either we’re going to sink down and just continue to keep losing or we’re going to do what it takes and figure out what to do to get better.” She said the Chicago Sky needs to go back to the “drawing board.”
“I think we were playing really hard,” Reese said, saying that a lot calls “weren’t made,” and claiming that “some people got a special whistle.”
Angel Reese Repeatedly Criticized the Referees After the Game
Reese repeatedly criticized the referees during the post-game interview with the media.
“Regardless of the referees . . .we’re here for a while. We’re not going to be denied, no matter what you guys can try to do,” Reese said. “Our goal is to win, and we’re going to do whatever it takes to win.”
Reese said there was a “lot of hype around the game.”
“It’s tough. I’m not used to losing like this,” Reese said, but she added that she was going to look into the mirror and try to figure out what she can do better before the next game.
Fans were divided on X. “Angel Reese should be suspended. She is intentionally targeting Caitlin Clark and making the game dangerous. She needs to be stopped. There is a difference between “welcoming a rookie to the league,” and coming for someone’s head. Enough is enough. Bad look for the league,” wrote one.
But another fan wrote, “Soooo when angel reese got close lined out of the air a couple of games ago it was fine rt? Hard fouls happen in basketball sir!”
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Angel Reese Defends Hitting Caitlin Clark in the Head After Flagrant Foul