LeBron James hails LSU hero Reese as she trolls Clark in Championship win

03 April 2023 , 15:09

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LeBron James has defended LSU Tigers star Angel Reese after the 20-year-old taunted rival Caitlin Clark (Image: Getty)

NBA icon LeBron James has hailed LSU Tigers star Angel Reese after winning the NCAA championship against the Iowa Hawkeyes and rival Caitlin Clark.

Reese put up 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the 102-85 win on Sunday, leaving Hawkeyes star Clark with little to no chance of clinching victory, despite netting an impressive 30 points. And in the final moments of the demolition of Iowa, Reese took the chance to troll Clark.

Reese, 20, pulled out John Cena's famed "You can't see me" celebration — which Clark herself has used as a taunt. The meaning behind WWE legend Cena’s gesture is that he moves too fast for his opponents to keep up.

However, Reese added her own twist to the taunt, pointing to the finger where she plans to wear her championship ring. Reese didn’t provoke a reaction from Clark, though, who was both unfazed and gracious in defeat.

One major basketball star did react to Reese, with Los Angeles Lakers star James, 38, hailing the 6ft3in shooting guard. Reacting to a tweet imagining Reese’s reaction to the haters, in which a woman walks away stone-faced from a burning car, James tweeted: “FACTS!!!! Love to see it.”

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Reese said after the game: “[Clark is a] hell of a player but I don’t take disrespect lightly. She disrespected [LSU’s] Alexis [Morris] and I wanted to pick her pocket. But I had a moment at the end of her game … I was in my moment.”

Angel Reese taunted rival Caitlin Clark by pointing to her ring finger in Sunday's championship win (Getty)

And in her post-match press conference, Reese later spoke on the reaction she gets to taunting compared to Clark, who appeared to get an easier ride on social media and in the news. She said: “All year I was critiqued about who I was.

"The narrative, I don’t fit the narrative, I don’t fit into the box y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood, I’m too ghetto, y’all told me that all year. But when other people do it, y’all don’t say nothing. So this is for the girls that look like me, that’s gonna speak up on what they believe in. And, that’s what I did it for tonight. It was bigger than me tonight. Twitter is gonna go on a rage every time. And, I’m happy. I feel like I've helped grow women's basketball this year.”

While Clark said: “Honestly, I have no idea [what happened]. I was just trying to get to the handshake line and shake hands and be grateful that my team was in that position. That's all you can do is hold your head high, be proud of what you did.”

Joshua Mbu