Stephen A. Smith JUST SHUT DOWN Angel Reese’s Michael Jordan Comparison FOREVER
Angel Reese was supposed to be the next face of the WNBA. A viral sensation. A walking headline. But after another brutal performance, the only thing going viral… is the criticism.
In this video, we break down the shocking fallout from Angel Reese’s four-point disaster against a Caitlin Clark-less Indiana Fever. From Stephen A. Smith’s blunt takedown to the growing tension in the locker room, the hype around “Bayou Barbie” is quickly turning into a full-blown media meltdown.
Is Angel Reese just in a slump… or is this the beginning of the end?
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caitlyn Clark and Angel Angel Reese right they’re going back and forth and J Hill says by the time Angel Reese is done she’s going to be the Michael Jordan of WNBA she said about Angel Reese she said Angel Ree by the time she retires can you pull up this quote she said by the time she retires she will be the MJ angel Ree was supposed to take over the WNBA period she had the swagger the NIL deals the viral moments and the nickname Bayou Barbie practically trademarked it for dominance but now she’s racking up more rebounds than points more criticism than highlights and more excuses than game-winning plays and then came that quote Jay Hill comparing Angel to Michael Jordan yep the GOAT the Airens the guy who dropped 63 in the playoffs and then dropped a billion dollar brand deal what did Angel drop four points it’s not about black and white it’s about that white player and that black player why because of the history that they had before they came to the WNBA you see it was all instigated if Angel Reese was never in Caitlyn Clark’s face taunting her the way that she did when they mimicking what Caitlyn Clark was doing to numerous opponents in route to the final four and then Angel Reese and LSU bust their living you know what at that particular moment in time and and Angel Reese was in her face chirping at her the way that she did it would have never gotten to this point even Steven A smith the undisputed hype machine looked at that comparison and basically screamed “Cut the cameras.” And the game that followed let’s just say Caitlyn Clark was iced on the bench and still had more impact than Ree who was actually on the floor something’s unraveling here and fast the media spin machine can’t safer the stat sheets not lying and the fans they’re starting to wake up first of all it’s not a First of all it’s not a rivalry not when you losing by 35 points on open it’s not rivalry indiana Fever is on a different level than Chicago Sky let’s get that out the way secondly as much as we love Angel Reese because she is special she’s not Caitlyn Clark as a player caitlyn Clark is on a different level we just have to own a If you’re going to crown someone the Michael Jordan of anything they’d better be ready to dominate like MJ in the finals not fumble like it’s open Mike Knight at a rookie camp but that didn’t stop Jay Hill from going allin on Angel Ree saying and we quote “By the time she retires she will be the MJ of the WNBA.” And just like that the internet split into two camps the believers and the realists hugh Steven A smith slamming the brakes like his reputation depended on it because if Angel Ree is the next Jordan then Mike Goldfish is the next LeBron the timing couldn’t have been worse this comment dropped right before a game where Angel had every chance to show out no Caitlyn Clark national spotlight prime opportunity fans were excited to see Caitlyn Clark and Indiana Fever take on Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky the game was a blowout as the Fever beat down Chicago 93 to 58 with Clark’s triple double leading the way but the biggest headline coming out of the game on Saturday is the investigation the WNBA is conducting in allegations of hateful fan comments directed at AJ Ree it happened after this play when Clark slapped at the ball after Reese grabbed an offensive rebound and then four points that’s not MJ that’s MIA she wasn’t soaring through the air she was clanking layups like a busted vending machine instead of proving the haters wrong she proved her fans delusional you can’t invite the ghost of Jordan into the conversation then put up numbers that scream benchwarmer but this wasn’t even the most brutal part because what happened next made that MJ comparison look downright cruel angel Reese part 38 let’s give her life throws her lemons she makes bricks bang psa to anyone watching she is right-handed right-handed by the way you missed the rim by three feet man I got to say this is my favorite summer sitcon pan butter here’s a stat she’s been blocked 20 times and she’s only made 21 hoops what four points that’s it angel Reese had the spotlight the minutes and the mic and all she gave us was a stat line so flat it could slide under a door caitlyn Clark was on the bench wrapped on ice like a leftover lasagna and somehow still made more noise than Angel did on the floor this wasn’t just a bad night it was a public unraveling a full broadcasted yikes moment the Indiana Fever steamrololled the Chicago sky by 35 points and Angel she played 27 minutes and contributed just enough to make the box score look like a typo because I was calling it from day one you got people that are resentment resentful towards her but not she is really not about her guys it’s about what she represents before she ever came along there were a lot of outstanding basketball players who happened to be black females that was doing their thing on the WNBA level and they never got this kind of [ __ ] even her own fans had trouble spinning it the stat line became the meme four points no assists no spark just rebounds 12 of them because apparently she’s hoarding those like Chick-fil-A coupons but what’s the point of grabbing boards if you can’t convert on anything and while Angel fumbled open looks the crowd didn’t cheer they winced even the announcers hit damage control saying she contributed elsewhere yeah maybe in morale because it sure wasn’t on the scoreboard the fallout was immediate twitter roasted her like a Thanksgiving turkey and even diehard supporters were asking the same question is this it but things only got worse once people started breaking down the footage because Angel didn’t just miss shots she missed moments elaborate a little bit more on that in just a second but before I do that I want to ask you your thoughts about uh apparently some racial animist that was thrown in the direction of Adel Ree the Chicago Sky have gotten involved talking about they’re going to protect their players at all cost the NWNBA has issued a statement saying it abhores and and discourages hate of any kind etc etc your thoughts about it here’s the WNBA statement the WNBA strongly condemns racism hate and discrimination in all forms they have no place in our league or in society we are aware of the allegations and are looking into the matter your thoughts about that element of all of this where you believe it emanates from and do you think it will ever subside let’s talk about the shot chart if you can even call it that angel Reese wasn’t just missing she was missing dad rim grazers airballs lance that bounced off like they owed her money at one point she missed by three feet that’s not a miss that’s a cry for help and yet the PR squad went into full spin mode she hustles they said she rebounds they said bro if rebounds were enough Dennis Rodman would have been MVP every year while wearing wedding dresses hustle’s great but you’ve got to score in professional basketball otherwise it’s cardio and uniform even Stephen A smith who lives for hype had to step back and say “This ain’t LSU anymore.” And he’s right because this isn’t college there are no bonus points for vibes oh man the latter part of that Stephen A is quite the thing to think on um I think when you go back to the impetus of the rivalry that we have between Caitlyn and uh Andre funny clips on the internet another diabolical stat she’s 19 on 59 from less than 5t away how about that man she should work at housekeeping for hotels cuz she could turn it over quickly lost by 27 scored only four points against the Indiana Fever dimension no Caitlyn Clark no problem given go a given no shot of working bang prefer a car or plane car or plane for what for how you want to travel that’s too many steps and you can’t do that reys is out here turning lemons into bricks and calling it strategy the missed layups are starting to pile up like TSA bins and every offensive possession looks like a deleted scene from the milk crate challenge wobbly miscalculated and headed for a crash worse yet the footage doesn’t lie you can see the confidence drain out of her face midame not just bad form bad energy the kind that says “Maybe I’m not built for this yet.” And now the narrative isn’t just about her game it’s about the gap between the brand she built and the performance we’re seeing and that’s where things get dangerous because once the ego outweighs the effort it’s all downhill i have yet to see a single example of Angel Ree being a leader outside of rebounding her miss layups what does Angel Ree do what is her contribution you tell me because I’m not seeing it i know I’m harsh on Angel Reese but she considers herself a star if you’re going to call yourself a star I expect you to perform like a star especially in big moments caitlyn Clark was injured angel Reese was the only star on the court last night and for 27 minutes she completely disappeared look nobody’s knocking confidence swagger wins games but when the pregame outfit is sharper than your box score we got a problem angel Ree walked into the WNBA with lashes lashes and more lashes and a level of self asssurance that could bend metal the media loved it the fans loved it the league loved it bayou Barbie had officially entered the building but somewhere between the glam walk and the opening tip the game got lost because it’s one thing to flex on Instagram it’s another to flex in a league full of seasoned killers and so far Angel looks more ready for a runway than a fourth quarter comeback that’s not hate that’s fact what an outfit Angel Ree was rocking she put a lot of time a lot of effort into making sure her ensemble was on point are my boots matching my jacket are my gloves matching my hat angel Ree put in tons of time for this outfit which begs the question does Angel Ree put in more time in her outfits for the pregame catwalk or does she put in more time to actually get better at the game stephen A said it best you’re not at LSU anymore translation: There are no style points here you don’t get minutes for drip you don’t get endorsements for jogging in circles and you definitely don’t get to call yourself the face of the league if your impact ends at rebounds meanwhile bench players are busting their asses for 10 minutes while Angel logs 30 doing glorified warm-ups that’s not leadership that’s dead weight and now even her own teammates are probably sideeying the stat sheet because effort’s not enough results talk ego walks and in Angel’s case it might be walking her right off the starting lineup but just when things couldn’t get more uncomfortable the race narrative lit a fresh match caitlyn Clark’s or or Angel Reese’s popularity in large part is attributed to her behavior towards Caitlyn Clark because when Caitlyn Clark was busy taunting opponents a couple of years back before LSU smacked Iowa around in the national championship game or so it was Angel Reese that was clapping back at Caitlyn Clark once it was Caitlyn Clark’s turn to have her comeuppance and that’s what made Angel Reese famous now Angel Reese um experienced vitriol thereafter it was tough for her to deal with as she articulated you don’t need a locker room leak to know something’s off in Chicago the vibes tense the chemistry questionable and the front office probably googling how to undo a franchise rebuild because here’s the cold truth wnba coaches don’t play favorites you either produce or you sit there’s no participation ribbon for Clout and Angel Reese she’s logging starter minutes with bench level impact imagine being a rookie guard hustling for scraps while Angel strolls around like it’s a GQ shoot that kind of imbalance doesn’t just lose games it kills morale every missed shot from Ree isn’t just a stat it’s a gut punch to everyone grinding in silence and upstairs the execs are sweating they didn’t draft a social media influencer they drafted a franchise cornerstone someone to rival Caitlyn Clark drive ticket sales headline highlight reels what they got well there’s a lot of reaction coming in from last night’s drubbing destruction annihilation cremation whatever you want to call it roasting sauteed what whatever your form of cooking may be but the Indiana Fever absolutely dismantled the Chicago Sky 12 rebounds and a bunch of confused fans wondering where the scoring went now coaches are scrambling moving her to power forward trying her at the five giving her weird pseudo wing assignments like she’s an NBA 2K glitch nothing sticks it’s like rearranging furniture in a burning house and with every empty statline the whispers get louder is she worth the minutes do we bench her do we build around someone else this isn’t growing pains this is a full-blown identity crisis chicago thought they were getting a superstar what they got was a storyline they can’t spin anymore and just when the smoke started rising the cultural firestorm hit full blast this is only women that get this i’m tired of it like here’s my thing you guys what else who Who are these girls who are these girls that are hating on Caitlyn Clark are you just combing through Twitter what else are these women supposed to do fawn over her fan girl over her bend the knee kiss the R like what do you want from them we cannot every time the girl plays a game she got 40 games guys she got 35 more games we are not every single game going to revisit and retread this same tired ass rhetoric that all these girls are hating on her and they need to be thankful they have been you knew it was coming the second Caitlyn Clark and Angel Ree shared the court this rivalry stopped being just basketball it became symbolic and now every foul every staredown every missed bucket gets framed through a much bigger messier lens after that now infamous moment Clark slapping at the ball Ree grabbing a rebound allegations erupted claims of racist fan behavior flew so fast the WNBA had to hit the emergency PR button official statements internal investigations team reps promising to protect their players at all costs and suddenly this wasn’t about rebounds anymore it was about race resentment and public perception comes along and she wres havoc she’s the rookie of the year she’s fourth in the league in MVP voting fourth in the league her rookie year wow outstanding she’s like she’s like she’s like Steph Curry she could pull up from anywhere you understand she has that kind of capability didn’t win a national championship lost to LSU one year we lost to South Carolina another year but she’s out she’s outstanding and clearly worthy of being the number one overall pick and what I was saying to everybody is ride the wave rising tide lifts all boats some fans saw Angel Ree as a confident black woman being unfairly targeted others saw Caitlyn Clark as a generational white star being constantly baited into drama the tension spilled over into Twitter threads news cycles podcasts hell even YouTube comments turned into miniature civil wars the League tried to walk the tight rope we condemn hate of any kind sure but when the headlines keep reading “Angel booed again,” you can’t ignore the elephant in the arena the real tragedy this firestorm is burning right through the core of Reese’s career the attention she once thrived on is now turning sour the cheers are becoming groans the support is morphing into side eyes because people aren’t just asking is she being treated fairly they’re asking is she still delivering and that answer is getting harder to spin meanwhile Caitlyn Clark injured benched wrapped in ice is still dominating the conversation like she never left bald at Iowa in college she’s bald since she’s been in the NBA she she came into the league last year with no break whatsoever between the college game and the pro game and did her thing ended up as an all-star ended up being fourth in the league in MVP voting was the clear winner for rookie of the year no competition whatsoever in that regard when it was really all said and done we know what she brings to the table here’s the part that makes it downright painful caitlyn Clark didn’t even play and somehow she still walked away as the most dominant figure in the building angel Reese had the court the spotlight the narrative all teed up for her to finally shift the story back in her favor but while she was chucking bricks and staring at the scoreboard like it had betrayed her Caitlyn Clark sat calmly on the bench wrapped in ice like a queen in recovery and still managed to outshine her rival without breaking a sweat how because even when she’s sidelined Clark commands attention she’s not just a player she’s a presence a gravitational force every shot she takes or doesn’t take is a headline every glance a tweet every assist a viral moment even her ankle wrap probably got more engagement than Angel’s statline actually feel bad for Angel Reese at this point and it has nothing to do with like how she’s handled herself or anything it’s just simply Caitlyn Clark is so much better than Angel Reese at basketball that it’s not it doesn’t feel fair yeah i think I think Angel Ree is struggling with the fact that Caitlyn Clark is is better at her best thing than she is well she’s better at everything get a triple double she She’s tied for the third most triple doubles in in WNBA history and she’s played 50 games and that’s the real gap clark changes the game literally defenses shift when she checks in ratings spike stadiums fill you can feel it in the air she’s that Steph Curry that Kobe level energy WNBA fans have been starving for angel she had a wide open lane to take the spotlight and instead she stumbled like she forgot the choreography this was supposed to be the Clark versus Ree era the rivalry to revive women’s basketball instead it’s turning into a onewoman show and Ree is the one holding the mic with nothing to say but if you think this is just a slump think again what’s coming next could be career definfining or career ending unfortunately it comes with the crown i got to push back on you a little bit okay i think you’re being a little bit too PC let’s call it what it is i am not trying to say that she should be criticized or she is wrong what I’m saying is by pulling it down clearly you felt there was something wrong with it now yes you are 22 yes you are young and there’s a lot of things that we didn’t want people to know about when we were her age fair enough especially me okay because I’m 30 years 30 plus years removed from that age i got that part there was no social media then or whatever but here’s my point to you she knows there’s social she is not dumb at some point the hype runs out and what’s left the numbers and Angel Reese’s numbers aren’t just disappointing they’re damning four points again and again meanwhile Caitlyn Clark’s worst night still ends in a double double and a dozen viral tweets the contrast is brutal and fans are no longer ignoring it they’re over the branding the glam the recycled excuses reese isn’t the franchise player Chicago hoped for she’s a warning label a cautionary tale of what happens when marketing outruns development the front office is scrambling the coaching staff is drawing plays like they’re diffusing a bomb and fans they’re looking around like “Yo was this the plan?” Robinson of the WNBA will be Caitlyn Clark if she stays healthy there’s a group of them that would hope for her to be out but uh why do you say why do you say she’s going to be the Jackie Robinson the WNBA because she’s the first white girl she’s not the first white girl but she’s the first white superstar at the levels where she’s scoring these you know the threes she’s shooting she’s like a Steph Curry she’s the first actual superstar that people care when’s the last time we watched like college basketball if I told you tell me the greatest college basketball female basketball players last 30 years and you watch I know her she’s our me you look at some of these names you see some of these people on how they do every possession now feels like a test every game a referendum and every minute she spends on the court without producing only digs the hole deeper she’s not just underperforming she’s becoming forgettable and in a league as cutthroat as the WNBA forgettable is the fast lane to gone this was supposed to be Angel’s year the breakout the redemption arc instead we’re watching the plot twist no one predicted the rivals rise and the stars slow fade into background noise because in the WNBA you don’t get paid for potential you get paid for buckets wins and impact and right now Angel Reese is giving us rebounds outfits and a whole lot of questions if you’ve seen enough if you’re done pretending this is just a slow start drop a fire the baby giraffe in the comments like subscribe and hit that bell because this league doesn’t wait for anyone and neither do
