Here's What You Need To Know About LSU's Angel Reese & Why She's Feuding With The White House
She accepted an NCAA trophy and declined an invitation to DC.
Angel Reese on the LSU basketball court. Right: Angel Reese holding the NCAA National Champion trophy.
LSU's Women's Basketball organization recently took home the NCAA championship and all eyes are on the team's forward, Angel Reese. She's gotten heat for using a hand gesture to taunt another player and publicly denied Jill Biden's request to visit the White House.
After the game, Reese stared at opposing Iowa player, Caitlin Clark, and pointed to her ring finger suggesting where her championship ring would go. Clark had made a similar gesture earlier in the tournament. There was a public outrage toward Reese's actions but not Clark's.
“I don’t fit the box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. Y’all told me that all year. But when other people do it, and y’all don’t say nothing...It was bigger than me tonight. And Twitter is going to go into a rage every time," Reese said in a post-game press conference.
The NCAA champions traditionally get an invite to the White House. This year, Jill Biden wanted to host both the winning and losing teams but Reese wasn't having it.
On April 4, she told the I Am Athlete podcast hosts that if the roles were reversed, she doesn't think LSU would have been invited. She said the First Lady's reasoning was to represent good sportsmanship, but she wonders if it would have still happened had she not made the hand gesture.
\u201cAngel Reese on Jill Biden inviting both LSU AND Iowa to the White House:\n\n\u201cI just know if the roles were reversed, they wouldn\u2019t be the same. If we were to lose, we would not be getting invited to the White House.\u201d \n\nSubscribe for more #PaperRoute \ud83d\udcf0 \u2192 https://t.co/psv6vVha0h\u201d— I AM ATHLETE (@I AM ATHLETE) 1680642974
According to NPR, Biden seemingly rescinded her dual invite, opting instead for tradition, but Reese says she and the team aren't interested.
"You felt like they should have came because of 'sportsmanship,' right? They can have that spotlight. We'll go to the Obama's," Reese said on the podcast.
She also said that the First Lady wanted to go to the locker room before the game, but the team denied her entry, Reese claimed it was because President Joe Biden didn't have the Baton Rouge university on his bracket to win.
\u201c\u201cWe\u2019ll go to the Obama\u2019s. We\u2019ll see Michelle. We\u2019ll see Barack.\u201d\n\nLSU Women\u2019s Basketball star Angel Reese doesn\u2019t accept First Lady Jill Biden\u2019s apology \ud83d\ude2c\n\nSubscribe for the full #PaperRoute convo \ud83d\udcf0 \u2192 https://t.co/ENS0ZpXoKM\u201d— I AM ATHLETE (@I AM ATHLETE) 1680704134
The First Lady apologized, but Reese said she is not ready to accept Biden's apology.
What does the Angel Reese gesture mean?
During the NCAA Championship, Angel Reese waved her hand in front of her face and pointed at her ring finger while looking at Caitlin Clark, a Guard for the opposing Iowa team.
The gesture was to allude to the place where her championship ring would go.
What did the First Lady say about LSU women's basketball?
\u201cHer comments in Colorado were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes. She looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers on their championship win at the White House.\u201d— Vanessa Valdivia (@Vanessa Valdivia) 1680602782
First Lady Jill Biden watched the game from the stands and said that she wanted both LSU and Iowa to be invited to the White House. Historically, only the winning team gets a visit.
Reese wasn't too happy about this and even tweeted that the dual invite was a "joke" to her.
Biden's Press Secretary took to the social media app to clarify what her boss meant:
"Her comments in Colorado were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes. She looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers on their championship win at the White House."
How old is Angel Reese?
Angel Reese is 20 years old.