Angel Reese has built her brand on being fiercely unapologetic, both on and off the basketball court, and at times, it has come back to haunt her. But little did she expect that the one trolling her this time would be someone from her own camp after getting brutally mocked by the Golden State Valkyries following the WNBA Finals loss.
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Shaquille O’Neal and Reese were part of the “Tiger Walk” before LSU’s must-win game against Alabama. The viral video on the internet showed Reese trying to record Shaq with her camera. When she playfully took the camera close to his face, he broke out her viral “too small” gesture. The Dream star seemed annoyed. But according to WNBA broadcaster Robin Lundberg, the trolling was expected after the Dream lost the series.
“Once Angel Reese did it and they went on to lose that series, it was going to haunt her and be thrown back in her face,” Lundberg said on his YouTube channel. “That’s just the way things work. That’s how sports work. You can’t be a frontrunner and then not expect people to bring it back your way when it doesn’t go your way.”
In Game 3, while the Atlanta Dream were nearing a 2-1 lead, Reese directed a too-small gesture towards the Valkyries’ bench. Reese had played her second back-to-back dominant game in the paint, and her gesture was directed at center Aminata Gueye. The Dream star even called the Valkyries player a “bum.”
But the wind quickly changed its course. After 30 points in Game 2 and a 21-point performance in Game 3, Reese’s offense was never the same. In the next four games, she totaled just 38 points and shot 12-of-45 from the field. The Dream star was equally bad at taking care of the ball, committing 19 turnovers during the same span.
The Dream star struggled in the championship contest in Game 7. She scored just 8 points, and the Valkyries won their first title in just two years since they played their first game as a WNBA team.
Following the win, the Valkyries got creative. The Valkyries Two Small years T-shirt went viral on the internet. On his podcast, Lundberg brought up the Valkyries staff wearing T-shirts featuring Reese’s viral moment, edited with Michael Jordan’s famous crying meme face.
“One of the things I saw traversing the interweb in the past week when anybody had any blowback about what the Valkyries were doing in regards to that celebration, and we saw that everywhere,” he added.
Former Warriors player Festus Ezeli, who is in broadcasting with NBC Sports Bay Area, mocked Reese by showing off his T-shirt. Lundberg also brought up the Valkyries fans trolling Reese with pink pacifiers with tags that read “If found return to: ATL.”
Lundberg brought up Reese’s viral moment from when she defeated Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes for LSU’s maiden title in 2023. Reese broke out the “You Can’t See Me” celebration in Clark’s face.
“If you’re gonna chase somebody around the court doing this and following them wherever they go and then get on an Instagram Live right after your championship and make it about them, that’s kind of clout chasing. Angel Reese was clout chasing over Caitlin Clark in that moment. Then, the two small stuff being thrown back in your face is certainly not a bridge too far.”
Reese’s viral “You Can’t See Me” gesture at Clark came when LSU won the title. But this time, Reese’s gesture came two games shy of the series win. Was it rushed? Maybe. But it’s hard to expect Reese to play any other way.
According to Lundberg, Shaq trolling her wasn’t at her expense because they shared a good relationship. He added that the trolling by the Valkyries and social media can eventually “motivate” Reese to be better this offseason.