Seems like WNBA officials are tightening up foul calls this season. In a scrappy matchup between the Golden State Valkyries and the Chicago Sky—an eventual 83–78 win for the Valkyries—Angel Reese was assessed a flagrant foul for a play that many believed was simply part of the game. A routine scramble for a loose ball turned into a moment of controversy, and the broadcasters made their stance clear early: they didn’t see anything flagrant about it.

The incident happened with 3:35 left in the first quarter. Reese and Kayla Thornton both dove for a loose ball near the sideline when Reese’s hand accidentally caught Thornton in the face, sending her to the floor clutching her cheek. Officials reviewed the play and upgraded it to a flagrant 1, despite the fact that Reese was clearly making a hustle play to keep the ball in bounds.

Bay Area reporter Kenzo Fukuda reported the call live on X. And the decision sparked confusion, especially among commentators. Jacob Tobey, on the broadcast with Morgan Ragan, summed it up plainly:

“Again, to you and me both, Morgan—nothing flagrant or malicious about it.”, Tobey said. Head coach Tyler Marsh was visibly frustrated, confronting referee Jenna Reneau on the sideline for an explanation, but the call stood. And although it didn’t send Reese to the bench immediately, it marked her second foul of the quarter, adding early tension to a game where the Sky could ill afford to lose her presence. But, case in point, this wasn’t an isolated moment in a season already under intense officiating scrutiny. 

Bay Area reporter Kenzo Fukuda reported the call live on X:

On June 17, a Fever–Sun matchup erupted when Caitlin Clark was poked in the eye by Jacy Sheldon and later shoved by Marina Mabrey—an incident upgraded to a flagrant 2, earning widespread criticism and league fines. Coaches like Stephanie White and Becky Hammon have publicly decried “bad officiating” and inconsistent foul enforcement.

Reese herself has found herself on the wrong side of the whistle earlier this month. On June 11, she set a hard blindside screen on Leonie Fiebich that was initially called a personal foul but then upgraded to a flagrant 1. Even ESPN voices Ryan Ruocco and Rebecca Lobo disagreed, calling it a “common foul” with no arm extension/

Earlier yet, on May 17, Reese and Clark were hit with upgraded fouls in the season opener—Reese for physical play in the post, Clark for contact on Reese, resulting in Reese receiving a technical after reacting. The moment drew viral attention and painted her as a player whose every physical move would now be under scrutiny.

So when Reese’s hand struck Thornton during the June 28 game, the contact may have looked incidental. But in an atmosphere primed by high-profile clashes, vocal calls for tighter officiating, and Reese’s own growing reputation for hard-nosed play, a hustle dive could easily draw a flagrant‑1 flag—even if commentators, coaches, and fans question it.

With the fallout from the flagrant call still buzzing, the conversation around Reese’s impact has split. That split was put into sharp focus this week when Mariah Rose, daughter of NBA veteran Jalen Rose, stepped into the fray to defend Reese against her harshest critics.

Mariah Rose defends Angel Reese against 10 loud haters

In the latest “1v10” debate video from House of Highlights, Mariah Rose—daughter of former NBA player Jalen Rose—defended Angel Reese against ten critics of the Chicago Sky rookie. The format, popularized by Jermaine “the OG” in earlier viral NBA content, features a single defender debating multiple opponents one by one.

Early in the video, Rose challenged the claim that Reese’s game “doesn’t translate to winning,” responding: “You’re saying that Angel Reese’s attitude, quote-unquote, doesn’t translate to winning? But she won a championship in college. And she won three state championships in high school, and she won an AAU championship.”
She followed up with: “Caitlin hasn’t won a championship.”

When the fan countered that the debate wasn’t about Caitlin Clark, Jermaine “the OG,” appearing as the moderator, jumped in to clarify:
“It kind of is though, ’cause it’s the same group of people. They be the same people that be hatin’ on Caitlin, that be hatin’ on Angel, that be hatin’ on JuJu [Watkins].”

That moment underlined the broader point of the video—criticism of players like Reese often comes from a repeated, overlapping subset of fans, and Rose’s defense was aimed at calling that out directly.