Dave Portnoy Says Caitlin Clark Fans Should 'Hate' Angel Reese In Six-Minute Long Rant
Dave Portnoy still can't seem to get over Angel Reese.
In a new video, Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, launched another rant targeting the Chicago Sky's Angel Reese and argued why Caitlin Clark fans have "every reason" to "hate" her.
Portnoy Goes On Another Rant About Angel Reese And Makes A Shocking Statement
Romain Maurice / MEGA
After the Chicago Sky and Clark's Indiana Fever faced off on Saturday, May 17, Reese and Clark once again took over headlines after their fiery on-court interaction.
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While Reese was attempting to shoot the ball, Clark committed a hard foul on the 6'3" power forward, sending her to the ground. Visibly upset, Reese tried to confront the Fever point guard after the whistle; however, they were both separated by their teammates.
Following the game, social media users in attendance alleged that some Fever fans directed racist comments toward Reese, prompting Portnoy's initial rant dismissing the allegations as "bullsh-t."
A few days later, the controversial media personality, 48, released another video explaining why he doesn't like Reese, 23, and why he believes Clark's fans shouldn't either.
"Caitlin fans have every reason to hate Angel Reese," he said. "Fever fans, Caitlin fans should hate Angel Reese. Angel Reese has been nothing but an instigator, agitator and jack-ss basically for the last couple years."
Portnoy Says Angel Reese Has 'Doubled Down' On Her Rivalry With Clark
Portnoy continued, explaining that Reese has "doubled down, tripled down, quadrupled down" on her "persona as Caitlin's rival."
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"It's one thing after another, after another. … The jealousy that Angel Reese has towards her and has consistently shown makes Caitlin fans hate her. … When you have one player that's constantly poking at you, constantly degrading you, yes, you're going to f-cking hate her," he added.
Besides Reese's widely criticized "You can't see me" hand gesture toward Clark during LSU's win in the 2023 NCAA National Championship game, it's unclear what specific repeated actions Portnoy is actually referring to.
After the loss in 2023, Clark defended Reese's actions in the championship game and attributed it to the nature of competitive sports.
"I don't think Angel should be criticized at all," Clark told ESPN. "I'm just one that competes, and she competed. I think everybody knew there was going to be a little trash talk in the entire tournament. It's not just me and Angel.
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She added, "We're all competitive. We all show our emotions in a different way. You know, Angel is a tremendous, tremendous player. I have nothing but respect for her. I love her game – the way she rebounds the ball, scores the ball, is absolutely incredible. I'm a big fan of her and even the entire LSU team. They played an amazing game."
Portnoy Has An Issue With The WNBA Investigating Claims Of Racism At The Indiana Fever Game
Following the Fever's dominant 93-58 win over Reese and the Sky on Saturday, the WNBA issued a statement announcing an investigation into claims that racist language was directed toward Reese inside Indiana's Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
"The WNBA strongly condemns racism, hate, and discrimination in all forms — they have no place in our league or in society," their statement read.
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However, Portnoy expressed his frustration with the league and slammed them for feeding into what he described as "bullsh-t."
"Unless something happened, which I know it didn't, for them to acknowledge this and kind of paint Indiana Fever fans…..and say 'we're investigating the hate,' by acknowledging 'we don't condone hate' and not seeing that this was an internet rumor founded of complete bulls–t… you're lending credence to this," he said.
Angel Reese And Caitlin Clark Moved On From The Foul After The Game
During the post-game conferences last Saturday, both Reese and Clark expressed their desire to move on from the flagrant foul.
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"Basketball play. Refs got it right. Move on," Reese told reporters, while Clark told the media not to make the play into "anything that it's not."
"It was just a good play on the basketball. I'm not sure what the refs saw to upgrade it. That's up to their discretion ... I wasn't trying to do anything malicious. That's not the type of player I am," Clark added.
The Trash Talk Isn't Personal; It's Part Of The Game
Instagram | Angel Reese
In 2024, Reese opened up about the narrative suggesting she and Clark detest each other, emphasizing that their competitive nature on the hardwood isn't personal.
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"Once we get out between those lines, like, if I see you walking down the street, it's like 'Hey, girl, what's up? Let's hang out.' I think people just take it like we hate each other," Reese said. "Me and Caitlin Clark don't hate each other. I want everybody to understand that. It's just a super competitive game, and I would just wish people realized that."
Reese added that she doesn't have any "friends" while she's competing.
"We're not buddies," she said. "I'm going to talk trash to you. I'm going to do whatever it takes to get in your head the whole entire game, but after the game, we can kick it. I don't think people really realize that, and that's fine, I'll take the villain role."
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