Angel Reese became one of the faces of college basketball after LSU won the national championship in 2023. Following the Tigers' Elite Eight loss on Monday, Reese opened up about the dark side of that notoriety.
The senior forward spoke out after the 94-87 defeat to Iowa about the number of attacks she has faced during the Tigers' title defense of the 2023-24 season. Reese explained all the criticism has followed the national championship win against Iowa last year.
"I don't really get to stand up for myself. I mean, I have great teammates. I have a great support system. I've got my hometown. I've got my family that stands up for me. I don't really get to speak out on things just because I just try to ignore and I just try to stand strong," Reese said after the game.
"I've been through so much. I've seen so much. I've been attacked so many times, death threats, I've been sexualized, I've been threatened, I've been so many things, and I've stood strong every single time."
“I’ve been through so much…I’ve been attacked so many times… death threats… I just want them to always know, I’m still human… All this has happened since I won the National Championship and… I haven’t had peace since then.”
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) April 2, 2024
- Angel Reese on the struggles she faces while… pic.twitter.com/vfH68pJtRj
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Reese's notoriety exploded after winning the title game in 2023. She rapidly became one of the top NIL earners in the country, with On3 currently listing her as the No. 8 collegiate athlete in the country in NIL valuations. Reese has nearly five million followers combined between Instagram and TikTok.
But Reese has also become a polarizing figure, even as early as the day of the national championship when she called out the double standard between her ring finger celebration and the "You Can't See Me" taunt deployed by Iowa's Caitlin Clark.
Before LSU and UCLA played in the Sweet 16, a Los Angeles Times column described the Tigers as "dirty debutantes" who play basketball the "wrong" way. The column has since been edited to remove much of the controversial language and the reporter has since apologized.
Reese's teammate Hailey Van Lith, who is white, blasted the article as "being racist towards my teammates" and highlighted the article as containing bias that "does exist still today." Reese trolled the article on Instagram.
"I'm in a unique situation where I see with myself, I'll talk trash and I'll get a different reaction than if Angel [Reese] talks trash," Van Lith said. "I have a duty to my teammates to have their back. Some of the words that were used in that article were very sad and upsetting."
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In the rivalry between Clark and Reese, Reese has acknowledged many people think the two stars have genuine animosity toward each other, which she denied. She also said she was taking "the villain role."
Reese said after Monday's loss she has tried to "stand strong" for her teammates because she doesn't want them to see her down or to not be there for them.
"I'm still a human. All this has happened since I won the National Championship, and I said the other day I haven't been happy since then. And it sucks, but I still wouldn't change. I wouldn't change anything, and I would still sit here and say I'm unapologetically me. I'm going to always leave that mark and be who I am and stand on that," Reese said.
"And hopefully the little girls that look up to me, and hopefully I give them some type of inspiration that know hopefully it's not this hard and all the things that come at you, but keep being who you are, keep waking up every day, keep being motivated, staying who you are, stand ten toes, don't back down and just be confident."
Two of Reese's teammates, Van Lith and Flau'jae Johnson, were quick to defend Reese after the game. Van Lith described Reese as "one of the toughest people I've been around" and added that "people speak hate into her life."
"I've never seen people wish bad things on someone as much as her, and it does not affect her. She comes to practice every day. She lives her life every day. She lives how she wants to live, and she don't let nobody change that," Van Lith said. "Y'all do not get to her. Let me say it again. Y'all do not get to Angel Reese. So you might want to give it up, throw the towel in because you're wasting your energy. Angel is one of the toughest people I've been around."
Johnson added:
Everybody can have their opinion on Angel Reese, but y'all don't know her. Y'all don't know Angel Reese. I know Angel Reese. I know the real Angel Reese, and the person I see every day is a strong person, is a caring, loving person. But the crown she wears is heavy. She's the type of teammate that's going to make you believe in yourself. The leap that I took from my freshman to sophomore year, Angel gave me that confidence to go be a dog, playing next to a dog every day, just to see how the media ridicule her. Went through our problems, but this is my sister right here, and I'm so proud of her. The media, y'all, how they like to twist and call it a villain and all that, y'all don't know Angel. I'm just happy that I get to play with her. I get to be around her presence. Her energy is different. She just makes me a better player. She makes me a better player, and that's what great players do.
