Angel Reese furiously spoke out after Chicago Sky teammate Chennedy Carter was reportedly harassed outside the team hotel in the capital amid the recent WNBA row over her bodycheck on Caitlin Clark.
Carter was targeted in Washington DC, Wednesday night, by a man, who was not a guest at the hotel, as the Sky arrived ahead of their road game against the Mystics Thursday, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
The man reportedly approached Carter with a camera as the team staff unloaded the bags from the bus. The Sky’s multiple bodyguards – part of increased security measures this year – are said to have immediately intervened and swiftly de-escalated the situation.
‘It was over as fast as it started,’ General manager Jeff Pagliocca told the Sun Times. ‘I’m very confident in our security always making our players feel safe. Today was a great example of how critical they are to our team.’
However the incident left Reese, coming off the first ejection of her pro career, and her fellow teammates fuming on social media.
Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter was reportedly harassed outside the team hotel
Angel Reese and Carter high five during their matchup against Caitlin Clark on Saturday
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The 22-year-old shared on X, Wednesday: ‘finding out our team hotel to pull with a camera as we get off the bus and put it in my teammates face & HARASS her is NASTY WORK.
‘this is really outta control and needs to stop,’ she added.
Reese’s teammate and Sky forward Isabelle Harrison followed up on the incident too: ‘WOW!!! Thank GOD for security. My teammate being harassed at our hotel is insane! Couldn’t even step off the bus!!!’
Sky forward Brianna Turner also took to social media to say that, while she wasn’t present for the interaction, it was out of order.
She also called out the racial sluts she and some of her teammates have had to endure within the league.
‘I wasn’t present for the interaction from earlier, but what occurred isn’t acceptable,’ Turner began.
‘Didn’t realize that when we said ‘grow the game’ that would be interpreted as harassing players at hotels. You are free to have your own opinion but consider if this happened to someone u know.
‘Yes we (thankfully) travel with security, but the absurd headlines recently has certainly created an unstable environment for our safety. I’ve been called every racial slur imaginable lately and my teammates have had it even worse.
On Tues., Reese claimed a person harassed a Sky teammate by putting a camera in her face
Isabelle Harrison, of the Sky, backed the WNBA’s star’s claim by giving her version of events
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‘No. I will not accept racism as ‘part of the game’. No I’m not sensitive. And no I won’t simply ignore the ignorant takes I’ve seen. The majority of you commenting could care less about the success of the WNBA and are only concerned with division.
‘It’s troubling to even speak out on bc I know half the responses will be filled with slurs and making excuses for unacceptable behavior. I know we all have different values and outlooks, but the discourse as of late is disingenuous to say the least.’
Carter has drawn heavy criticism for her brutal bodycheck on Clark during Chicago’s defeat to Indiana last Saturday, with the Sky guard appearing to yell ‘you b***h’ before shoving the Fever rookie to the ground.
Reese seemingly celebrated the shove with her Chicago teammate after the game, despite their 71-70 loss on the night, which sparked outrage on social media.
In the aftermath of the hard foul, questions and discussions about the physicality in the WNBA came to surface. The league ended up taking action by upgrading the play to a flagrant-1 violation foul a day after the contest on Sunday.
During an appearance on FanDuel TV’s ‘Run It Back’, basketball legend Nancy Lieberman admitted she would have reacted a lot more violently to the bodycheck than Clark did, while calling on the former Iowa sensation’s teammates in Indiana to protect her better in the future.
Lieberman went on to point out that hockey great Wayne Gretzky and NBA legend Michael Jordan always had enforcers protecting them in their respective fields, insisting that Clark needs similar help on court for the Fever.
One player willing to come to Clark’s defense is Angel McCoughtry, who has offered to join Indiana and protect their superstar rookie against brutality in the future.
The harassment allegations come days after Carter’s shoulder shot at Clark in Chicago’s loss to Indiana
Barely 24 hours before alleging harassment on the team’s bus, Reese was ejected against NY
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However, others, such as Whoopi Goldberg have leapt to Carter’s defense. The View star implored viewers to ‘get over [themselves]’ and accept that WNBA players are ‘athletes.’
‘Let’s be realistic, OK? This is basketball, OK? This happens in basketball all the time. Angel Reese got clotheslined the other day,’ Goldberg said, referencing Carter’s teammate who came under fire for cheering when Clark was pushed to the floor.
‘This is, “Get out the way or I’ma move you.” That’s what the game is … A lot of people, however, are reading this as confrontation. But this is not confrontation,’ she insisted.
Earlier on Wednesday, the league rescinded the second technical foul that was assessed to Reese against the New York Liberty barely 24 hours earlier.
Reese was thrown out of the game after receiving two technical fouls following a brief interaction with official Charles Watson. The rookie forward appeared to say something to Watson and then quickly waved her hand.
‘I tried to get an explanation. I did not,’ Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said postgame. ‘I don’t know to this moment what has happened.’
Head official Maj Forsberg said in a pool report that Reese’s technical fouls were for ‘disrespectfully addressing’ the official and then for ‘waving her hand in dismissal.’
Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball was at the game and said on X that he would pay the $400 fine that Reese would face from the league for getting the two technical fouls.
If a player receives seven technicals in the regular season they are assessed a one-game suspension. On Saturday, Reese was also fined $1,000 for failing to talk to the media after Chicago’s loss in Indiana.
Clark is currently 11th in average fouls drawn per game, averaging 4.2 per contest, tops among rookies
There’s no shortage of opinions on the physicality that the No. 1 pick of the WNBA Draft has faced this season, either arguing that not enough is being done to protect her, that she is being targeted by other players because of the media attention she receives, that race is a factor or that it is just the natural competitive evolution in the growing sport of women’s basketball.
Going into Thursday’s games, Clark is currently 11th in average fouls drawn per contest, averaging 4.2 per contest, tops among rookies in that category. She is third overall in total fouls drawn with 46, but the Fever (2-9) have played the most games.
Clark has said she won’t let the physical play get into her head and that she will continue to play her game.
At times, however, her frustration has shown when she feels she doesn’t get a call. She has been hit with a league-leading three technical fouls. A seventh technical during the regular season would result in a one-game suspension.
