Women’s college basketball got unprecedented attention in 2023 partly because of the media focus on Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.
Clark’s Iowa team took out the defending champion South Carolina in Final Four action.
That led to the matchup with LSU for the National Championship.
LSU was the better team and won the game by the score of 102-85, but instead of talking about that, we are focused on Angel Reese’s hand gesture to Caitlyn Clark after the game.
It mimicked Clark’s gesture used in other games, the hand in front of the face implying the person is not seen.
People are outraged about Reese’s behavior, and Dan Patrick offers a sensible take on the situation.
If You Can’t Take It, Don’t Dish It Out
As kids, our moms often said, “if you can’t take it, don’t dish it out.”
That meant if you didn’t like something that was done to you, don’t do it to someone else.
Clark talks trash on the court and uses hand gestures often.
Reese was doing it back to her in the moments after the game.
Clark said nothing about it.
This begs the question.
Why is this the takeaway story from LSU’s amazing season?
Patrick Was Surprised Reese Did It After The Game
In addition to it not being one of her best games, Patrick was surprised that Reese chose to do it after winning the game.
He expected that she would do it during the game.
Patrick believes the whole thing is overblown, and everyone should be reveling in the great women’s college basketball season that is now completed.
The focus should not be on Clark vs. Reese but on LSU who are the National Champions.
Coach Kim Mulkey turned around the LSU program in two years’ time, and that should be the lead story.
"Caitlin Clark does that all the time. We found it cute. But then Angel Reese does it, and we're going to vilify her? I'm not going to do that today. If you talk it, then you have to accept it."
-DP reacts to the Women's College Basketball Final #LSU #Iowa pic.twitter.com/6prG27uCAa
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) April 3, 2023
Robert Griffin III Agreed With Patrick
ESPN’s Robert Griffin III made similar statements as Dan Patrick.
He cited examples of Clark talking trash with Hailey Van Lith during the Louisville game.
Basically, people should either be offended that both players engage in this behavior, or they should not be offended at all.
You either call out both players for their actions or you call out neither.
I watched Caitlin Clark talk trash with Hailey Van Lith THE ENTIRE LOUISVILLE GAME. You had no problem with any of that. When you celebrate, your opponent will come back and steal your celebration and… https://t.co/CdHoTjwO9e— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) April 3, 2023
The fact that people are talking so much about women’s basketball, in general, is a victory regardless of your opinion on the Clark/Reese situation.
Caitlyn Clark, Hailey Van Lith and Angel Reese has brought more attention to women’s basketball than I think anything else in history. Which is crazy to think about . That should be celebrated
— #knicksFan Parlay King (@ImoutNah1) April 3, 2023
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
