Angel Reese was ejected late in the final quarter of the Chicago Sky’s 88-75 loss to the New York Liberty Tuesday night. With 2:31 left in the contest, Reese got whistled for her fifth personal foul after reaching into Liberty center Jonquel Jones following an offensive rebound. After flirting with fouling out, Reese appeared to have said something to the official Charles Watson that led to a technical foul.
While her choice of words remains a mystery, Reese waived Watson off as she walked away – resulting in a successive tech that led to her ejection. As her teammates stood stiff, puzzled by what transpired, the Chicago crowd booed while Reese walked into the tunnel. The rookie finished the game with 13 points and ten rebounds in 24 minutes.
Angel Reese was ejected from tonight’s game:pic.twitter.com/dEqIBWlFKa
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) June 5, 2024
‘Ref that threw out @reese10angel is weak btw… You know who are (keep ya money Angel I got you,’ Ball tweeted. ‘Appreciate you gang!’ Reese responded.
The ejection comes on the heels of the former LSU star claiming that she embraces an antagonistic role that springs from her rivalry with Caitlin Clark. Over the weekend, Reese received backlash after she cheered her teammate Chennedy Carter for bodychecking Clark in their 71-70 loss to the Indiana Fever.
‘People are pulling up to games, we have celebrities coming to games, sold out arenas. Just because of one single game,’ Reese said on Monday. ‘And just looking at that – I’ll take that role. I’ll take the bad guy role and I’ll continue to take that on. And be that for my teammates.’
‘I know I’ll go down in history. I’ll look back in 20 years and be like: ‘Yeah, the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball isn’t just because of one person. It’s because of me, too.’ And I want you to realize that a lot of us having done so much for this game.’
Ref that threw out @Reese10Angel is weak btw… You know who you are (Keep ya money Angel I got you)
— Lonzo Ball (@ZO2_) June 5, 2024
‘There are so many great players in this league that have deserved this for a really long time and luckily it’s coming now.’ Nevertheless, the Liberty cruised to victory behind MVP Breanna Stewart’s 33-point, 14-rebound double-double. Meanwhile, Sabrina Ionescu added 24 points and seven boards to help New York win on the road.
‘I tried to get an explanation, and I did not,’ coach Teresa Weatherspoon said when asked about the ejection postgame. ‘I don’t know, to this moment, what has happened.’ ‘She got ejected,’ teammate Marina Mabrey added. ‘She said something to the ref. Whatever he felt [like] was the correct call is what he made. It’s more about composure for us. You gotta get to know refs and how they respond to things.’
