The online outcry over Angel Reese’s on-court body language does not sit well with Sophie Cunningham.
Throughout October, Angel Reese has dominated the court, averaging close to 20 points and grabbing double-digit rebounds each night.
However, she never appears to acquire dominance gently. After Game 3, social media attacked her, focusing on a late taunting gesture that contributed to the victory. The typical audience jumped in and dismissed her as a “baby” after seeing videos of her clearly losing her temper and yelling at teammates to give her the rock.
Sophie Cunningham does not share the fury. Examining the controversy on her show, the Mercury veteran dismissed the notion that Angel Reese had gone too far. For her, witnessing a celebrity become enraged because she isn’t given the rock isn’t a sign of immaturity; rather, it’s just how basketball is.
According to her co-host, “Social media was lighting her up and saying she was a baby and she was all this.”
“Here’s my two things. I think one, you could probably clip almost everybody in the WNBA, in the NBA, that has clips like this, the frustration clips, right? You could you could 100% do that. That’s what you get when you’re playing at a high level, when you’re a competitor, especially when the when you’re trying to get a championship. Like, this s*** is going to happen. I’m not surprised by that,” Cunningham reacted.
She continued, “Actually, have three points. Number two, do I like the body language? Like, do I think that it could have been better? Absolutely. And I think if she watches this back, I think she could have said the same thing.”
The athlete remarked, saying, “But three, sometimes you got to do it. If your team’s not getting you the damn ball, then if you see one of your star players getting frustrated, getting p***** off, then it’s like, oh, you know, they’re not they’re not messing around. We need to get her the damn ball. And I think the coaching staff saw it. I think everyone on the bench saw it. Her teammates felt the energy.”
“And, you know, she did what she needed to do in order to put, you know, yet another game on her back. I loved it because of how she responded to it,” Indiana Fever guard further said.
Having received a lot of criticism for her personal opinions, Cunningham is well-versed in online heat. However, that doesn’t change her opinion in this case. If anything, it gives you more teeth.
Every night, she works hard on the court and shares a floor with Caitlin Clark, who is subject to the same public scrutiny. Cunningham’s defense of Reese hit far more than keyboard noise because she understands what it’s like to be under actual, oppressive pressure.