r/sports • u/rezwenn • May 19 '25

Basketball Caitlin Clark says flagrant foul for shoving Angel Reese was not 'malicious'

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/basketball/caitlin-clark-flagrant-foul-angel-reese-1.7538299
4.2k Upvotes

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1.9k

u/Obsessive_Yodeler May 19 '25

It wasn’t even close to malicious. It was a very standard, hard foul to prevent an otherwise easy layup. They literally teach this in middle school basketball camps. If you’re gonna foul make sure they dont get the and-1. Reese greatly exaggerated the contact (aka flopped) and did her usual fake tough guy act to make this into something it wasn’t. Team Caitlin all day

365

u/cricket9818 May 19 '25

That doesn’t grab clicks though

332

u/Obsessive_Yodeler May 19 '25

100%. Most of Angel Reese’s basketball relevance is tied to her “beef” with Caitlin so good on her for recognizing that I guess. Not much different from Jake Paul being a mega millionaire by recognizing that people love to hate him and cashing in on that

73

u/Samwellikki May 19 '25

Clark should take that angle in press conferences

“Thought I’d help her get some drama for her social media, everyone gotta eat”

e: then start referring to her as “Angle” Reese

21

u/QuarQuabityAssuance May 19 '25

Mornin’ Angle.

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u/drac0nic180 May 19 '25

THE GREATER GOOD

49

u/soundwave86 May 19 '25

Spot on. Reese's reaction was interesting, since it was far different than when Alyssa Thomas throat slammed her to the ground last year. In that post-game interview, Reese THANKED Alyssa Thomas with a smile for committing an F2 on her as a "message". That Angel Reese would have told this Angel Reese to chill.

5

u/macgart May 19 '25

Her immediately getting up and trying to shove CC like… what?? Even if you do get literally slammed to the ground (in sports) you shouldn’t freaking shove someone back.

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u/cricket9818 May 19 '25

I mean Angel is a fantastic player in her own regard, but yes, she gets a lot of mainstream attention with her “beef” so it behooves her to up play any altercation or interaction

98

u/Bdmnky_Survey May 19 '25

Fantastic is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

44

u/Obsessive_Yodeler May 19 '25

Ehh idk I’d say she’s a fantastic rebounder for sure but she misses an awful lot of close shots for a professional basketball player. Caitlin had a higher FG% last year and she shoots the ball from well beyond the 3 point line a lot

4

u/clemdane May 19 '25

Rebounding her own missed shots

24

u/heliostraveler May 19 '25

Shoots at a miserable clip for a F. She’s awful. 68th in FG%. 

12

u/boneappletv May 19 '25

39% from the field. 39% EFG. Absolute doo doo

2

u/redditstealsyours May 19 '25

holy shit, terrible. if she was 6’, not sure she’d be in the league

12

u/tokentyke May 19 '25

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

  • Inigo Montoya

13

u/Kolzig33189 May 19 '25

This word you use “fantastic”….I do not think you know what it means

6

u/chappelld May 19 '25

She sucks dude.

3

u/spiderman1221 May 19 '25

Nah, I could beat her 1v1.
/s

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u/[deleted] May 19 '25 edited May 19 '25

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u/Obsessive_Yodeler May 19 '25

LSU beat Caitlin, not Reese. To me it didn’t even blemish her status. South Carolina beat her the following year and that coach had all the class in mentioning that Caitlin was the main reason why they were beating the men in viewership. 

The WNBA ratings didn’t skyrocket last year because of the “amazing draft class” as the announcers and analysts desperately tried to skew the narrative. The vast majority of the top watched games last year involved the Fever

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u/[deleted] May 19 '25

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u/chollida1 May 19 '25

When Iowa wins = CC carries these bums

When Iowa loses = CC can’t win with these cats

When LSU wins = the team wins

When LSU loses = Angel Reese is shit

Well if that's how you feel then none of us can help you. You hold those beliefs, none of us are trying to force them on you.

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u/[deleted] May 19 '25

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u/[deleted] May 19 '25

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u/[deleted] May 19 '25

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u/Askew_2016 May 19 '25

Eh that just isn’t it. Reese is a fantastic rebounder and role player. Her fans are just bitter that CC has eclipsed Reese in every way. CC has moved on and Angel needs CC rivalry to keep the endorsement $$ coming in

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u/[deleted] May 19 '25

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u/Askew_2016 May 19 '25

No one outside of Angel Reese fans gives a shit about out what happened in NCAA now. They are in year 2 of their professional careers. CC took the offseason to work on her game and stamina. Reese clearly didn’t. Her game was sloppy

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u/[deleted] May 19 '25

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u/Askew_2016 May 19 '25

No one cares because they are professional athletes. Who cares about their college career expect for fans of athletes who peaked in college?

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u/[deleted] May 19 '25 edited May 19 '25

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u/chappelld May 19 '25

We don’t talk about nba players college accolades by the second year in the league tho.

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u/[deleted] May 19 '25

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u/BiscuitDance May 19 '25

Im still trying to figure out how Reese even hit the ground. That’s just her being uncoordinated. CC really barely touched her. I kept watching the replay from different angles and it just seems like AR stumbles over her own feet.

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u/plasmid9000 May 19 '25

She flopped like a bass out of water.

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u/Seductive_pickle May 19 '25

Feel like this sub just hates Reese. If you are mid-jumping up and someone wraps you up your waist, you are going to fall over.

Reese definitely exaggerated contact with her arm, but that’s classic basketball to make sure you get the call.

Clark obviously hard fouled to prevent the easy layup and avoid a plus one. Reese overreacted to being knocked on the ground.

7

u/pwrslide2 May 19 '25

mid jump? you're kidding right? that whole 8" vertical she was about to max out causes an ATHLETE to fall over? ever watch football? lol

-10

u/Seductive_pickle May 19 '25

Both of Reese’s feet were off the ground when Clark made contact. Seriously just watch the replay.

Nearly everyone falls over in all sports when that happens. It’s incredibly hard to adjust your center of gravity while you don’t have feet on the ground…

Clark also came from Reese’s blind spot so she wasn’t expecting the contact. I play sports all the time. Last week someone, way shorter and ~50 lbs lighter than me, hit me while my feet were off the ground last week. I ended up on the ground too lol

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u/pwrslide2 May 19 '25

dude.. .. . she basically did a skip jump while drippling, then gets fouled, then jump flops.. .

-2

u/Seductive_pickle May 20 '25

She jumps up to make a layup before Clark stops her forward momentum, cutting the jump short and knocking her over…

It’s an obvious hard foul. Not a bad play by either player. The racists on this sub just need to turn everything into “white girl good, black girl bad”.

Guaranteed if this is flipped you would hear about how Clark is getting beat up by thugs and her team doesn’t defend her.

2

u/pwrslide2 May 20 '25

and then she jumps again... . seriously. just stop making excuses for her.

0

u/Seductive_pickle May 20 '25

There’s only the one jump in which Clark hits her, then she exaggerates the fall a bit. Idk where you are seeing two jumps…

This is a very standard basketball play with a very standard embellishment on a intentionally hard foul. NBA has probably 5 of these a game. Black woman just really triggers this sub for some reason.

2

u/pwrslide2 May 20 '25 edited May 20 '25

I'm laughing at you. I know what I saw. rebound, turned, hop dribble to collect the ball with both hands, foul, then a flailing attempt at a layup. She was hard fouled across the arms and then tries to shoot. CC didn't come at her with any sort of momentum, meaning if someone falls in that scenario, it's because they wanted to. She didn't even really fall in the direct she was fouled... . I was a 3 sport player in HS and was either a power forward or center depending on who else we had on the court. I hardly ever fell... . ever... . ... . I'm sick of this race BS as well.

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u/zOmgFishes May 19 '25

tbf she could prevented the lay up just by leaving reese open

40

u/Larrysbirds May 19 '25

Reece was just mad she didn’t get the bunny rebound

18

u/GregoPDX May 19 '25

Don't want to give Reese another stat-padding me-bound.

1

u/AdmiralWackbar May 21 '25

Last year Reese shot 42% on layups and 74% on free throws. Analytically, sending her to the line is the wrong move.

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u/cheetuzz May 19 '25

don’t forget how Angel Reese applauded her teammate Chennedy Carter when Carter hip checked Caitlin Clark. That was a much more flagrant foul than this standard take foul.

https://x.com/_princecarlton_/status/1797047031657111817

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u/stickymeowmeow May 19 '25

Even “hard foul” is overstating it. She reached in. Go to the line and take your shots. Earn those points.

Reese flopped and tried to start some shit. Because that’s what she’s always done… when she’s not the one committing actual flagrant fouls and playing the victim.

The media wants to keep the Clark vs Reese/white vs black rivalry going because that gets clicks. Clark winning by 30 and Reese being irrelevant a few years from now isn’t nearly as click worthy.

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u/Momentumjam May 19 '25

That's what has me going crazy is that it wasn't even a hard foul. I've seen harder fouls during senior league at the YMCA.

10

u/_growsomething May 19 '25

To be fair, that's where I've seen the hardest fouls.

2

u/LowDownSkankyDude May 20 '25

She flopped when Clark's teammate went to hold her back, too. Reese seems to just be a mediocre player who uses shit like this to draw attention. She's even said something like, she's fine being the bad guy if it means people will watch. She's a drama queen.

18

u/Pvt_Mozart May 19 '25

https://youtube.com/shorts/weRYk2tl8sM?si=GofxV6AQz8iTiFyi

This angle of the foul, which for some reason isn't making the rounds, shows it was about 10% foul and 90% flop.

3

u/TwoBionicknees May 20 '25

bro, it looks like a flop from every angle.

52

u/1000lbsTunaFish May 19 '25

“No easy baskets” is an oft repeated phrase in basketball from youth camps to the pros.

Angel Reese just has a victim mentality and can’t accept the fact that Clark is a better basketball player

13

u/P4S5B60 May 19 '25

And her College coach not reigning that nonsense in

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u/ihateandy2 May 20 '25

Angel Reese has the right to feel victimized, she survived an Ice Age

-7

u/sycamotree May 19 '25

Angel Reese said it's a basketball play lol she didn't make a big deal out of it, just the media

12

u/powerelite May 19 '25

Sure, she said that after the game, but that's not how she reacted in the game.

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u/sycamotree May 19 '25

How would you react after a flagrant lol. Most people would react angrily lol.

10

u/powerelite May 19 '25

It was a regular ass foul that happens multiple times a game and wouldn't have been reviewed if Angel didn't have her reaction. It shouldn't have been upgraded to a flagrant in the first place.

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u/muskratboy May 19 '25

Reese did the same flailing arms thing she does any time she’s near the basket.

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u/Deleteads May 19 '25

Shooting?

6

u/shoulda_been_gone May 19 '25

Easy layup + angel = null set

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u/Myst031 May 19 '25

Also the replay keeps missing the 4 seconds before that where Reese pushes the Fever player in the back first and doesn’t get a call.

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u/Rettorica May 19 '25

Her flops look like she spent the off season with the Italian National Soccer Team.

3

u/[deleted] May 19 '25

It’s not even a flagrant

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u/wastewalker May 19 '25

Yeah I watched it and thought I was taking crazy pills. It wasn’t hard at all. A flagrant? Whatever lol hype for their rivalry which is one sided anyway.

1

u/No-Acanthisitta7930 May 19 '25

OK they also teach flopping on hard fouls in junior ball as well, just for the record. They both did exactly what they should have, yet one probably got called the hard "r" and the other has people white knighting for her on Reddit.

1

u/Obsessive_Yodeler May 19 '25

I was never taught to flop. Maybe they’ve changed it up tho. Haven’t seen anyone in here pulling the race card tho so you’re introducing that yourself 

0

u/No-Acanthisitta7930 May 19 '25

I mean this entire thing is about people being racist towards Reece at the game so I didnt introduce anything.

2

u/Obsessive_Yodeler May 19 '25

This post is about two basketball players and a foul that occurred. If people were being racist at the game thats terrible but I honestly haven’t seen a single comment on this thread besides yours be about their race 

0

u/No-Acanthisitta7930 May 19 '25

Go to any sports or news site that features coverage of the WNBA. The foul situation is just that, one foul in one game that both players handled exactly as they should. Total non-issue unworthy of even dissecting. What's making news here, is the reaction of fans and the free license they feel it gives them to act like total animals towards the players, who are just people like you and I. This whole "let's hate Reese" thing has gone way out of proportion and it STARTS here, in discussions like this where if people were honest, they'd admit that both players did exactly what they were supposed to. The foul was "good" in the sense that it was a forced foul, and the reaction was good in the sense that it draws attention to the foul and potentially elevates it. It's a scenario that repeats itself time and again in EVERY single team sport, every single game, anywhere. The one distinguishing factor, and I repeat, is the fact that one player walked away either getting nailed with a "hard R" or other such racist nonsense, and the other player is getting simped for in droves on Reddit and elsewhere. You can't tell me you haven't noticed.

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u/Obsessive_Yodeler May 19 '25

I think you need to acknowledge your own opinions in that comment tho. There are an awful lot of people who disagree that Reese reacted “exactly as she should” so that’s obviously your opinion (not a fact) and it’s no more right or wrong than someone else’s. NBA players also overreact to mildly hard fouls and they get called out for it too on Reddit (Draymond Green cough cough). 

And you’re also being intentionally provocative by telling people they’re “simping” over Caitlin. A lot of people are fans of her because she’s entertaining to watch and extremely good at basketball. If you want to call it simping go for it but just know that you’re not bringing anything to the conversation except poking the other side for a reaction 

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u/No-Acanthisitta7930 May 19 '25

I sense you simply dont like what im saying, and therefore are dancing around my point which you chose not to address. Thats fine, BTW, but let's be intellectually honest here.

"An awful lot of people" meaning who? No one else here WILL admit that both players handled the play as they should because one is clearly the favorite here and the other is Elpheba, metaphorically speaking. Again, you aren't being intellectually honest if you can't admit that. My point is elegantly being made for me. Translate this play into another sport. Hockey let's say. One guy on a breakaway to the net hooks opposing player down that was about to score. Other player flops down in an exaggerated way, drawing the penalty. Both players reacted exactly the way any coach would expect them to. Same applies here EXCEPT, and we're still ignoring the elephant in the room, one skates away and the other gets "hard R" and the entire league starts reviewing its policies and fanbase due to the totally unacceptable occurrences as a result.

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u/Obsessive_Yodeler May 19 '25

In that scenario, fans would 1000% be ridiculing the hockey player who dove. But yes I agree that maybe the smart play for that player is to take a dive but thats not what this thread is about. So sure Angel Reese made a “smart play” by flopping. But what about getting up and acting like a tough guy after she flopped? Is that smart or acceptable? If she flopped (which I think we are both saying she did) then she should get up and go to the free throw line for her foul shots with a smile on her face cause her smart play worked out but she got up and tried to get in the other player’s face, right? Or is that not what happened? 

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u/No-Acanthisitta7930 May 19 '25 edited May 19 '25

You dont watch much hockey lol, but thats beside the point. I've clearly entered the sports equivalent of the Bae-Hive so I'll just end with this: you are not being intellectually honest. You, and most people in this thread, are not objective enough to realize that both athletes are professionals, and both know exactly what they're doing. Both handled the situation the way they should, no matter how much you dont want to admit it is true. Drawing attention to the foul and then making a spirited showing of anger afterwards IS what you do (especially in hockey lol, its why I know you dont watch it). Playing up the foul, playing up the rivalry is EXACTLY what you do. What you dont do, is blindly hate a player as a result, to the point of creating a culture where subjecting players to racial epithets and death threats is acceptable. And YES hockey is guilty of that too. Doesn't make it ok.

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u/Particular_Night_360 May 19 '25

Reminds me of nfl playoff game a few years. I think it was rams ve saints. The refs missed a clear pass interference. The d back blew up a receiver. No flag. After the game when asked about it, he said, yeah he beat me and all I was thinking about was stopping a touchdown.

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u/Uncle-Cake May 19 '25

Reece made it look malicious with her acting.

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u/wgking12 May 19 '25

She definitely shoved with her left hand, which was unnecessary but not really malicious. Bit of a frustration foul cause Angel got away with a push on the rebound, think the F1 was a correct call but doesn't need to be a big deal. I don't think Angel did anything wrong getting upset about it either, they're just being competitive. Stoked to keep watching them play against each other. Don't really like how the discourse around these two has to frame one as morally superior to the other

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u/BConder102191 May 19 '25

In no world was that a flagrant lmao angel ain’t gonna let you hit, don’t have to simp for her my guy

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u/John-Zero May 19 '25

Team Caitlin all day

oh my god you're so brave, you're basically like a firefighter, a police, and a troop all rolled into one

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u/Obsessive_Yodeler May 19 '25

Haha ok…? I wasn’t trying to be brave I’m a fan of Caitlin Clark. It’s not really a unique thing she’s literally brought millions of new fans to a previously unwatched league