Angel Reese’s WNBA rookie season took another dramatic twist when she was ejected after receiving back-to-back technical fouls.
Reese, 22, was tossed from the Chicago Sky’s game against the New York Liberty on Tuesday, June 4, after she was called for her fifth personal foul with 2:31 remaining in the game — and then successive technicals after she appeared to say something to referee Charles Watson before waving him off.
After the game, Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon was still confused about what had transpired.
“I tried to get an explanation. I did not,” Weatherspoon said in her postgame news conference. “I don’t know to this moment what has happened.”
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Reese’s teammate Marina Mabrey, who was on the court when the ejection happened, explained Reese “said something to the ref.”
“Whatever he felt like was the correct call is what he made. It’s more about composure for us in our young years in the WNBA,” the sixth-year shooting guard said postgame. “You’ve got to get to know refs and how they respond to things.”
Whatever the case, Reese had the support of Chicago Bulls star Lonzo Ball after the incident went down.
“Ref that threw out @Reese10Angel is weak btw…” Ball, 26, posted via X. “You know who you are (Keep ya money Angel I got you).”
WNBA players are fined $200 each for their first three technical fouls.
Reese responded to Ball’s gesture, writing, “
appreciate you gang!”
Tuesday’s game was the first for the Sky since their headline-making matchup with Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Saturday, June 1, during which Reese’s teammate Chennedy Carter hip-checked Clark, 22, to the ground.
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After Reese was seen celebrating the incident — which was later upgraded by the WNBA to a Flagrant 1 foul, signifying “unnecessary and/or excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent” — she failed to show up for postgame media availability, which earned her a $1,000 fine.
On Monday, June 3, Reese addressed all of the drama surrounding the discourse, saying she was happy to take on the “bad guy role.”
“When we go out there and play super hard, compete every single day, it’s not personal,” Reese explained. “I promise you it’s based off of our stories and where we’ve come from. We’ve come from so many places that you guys have never seen or would never understand, so just being able to go out there and play with that chip on our shoulder every single night, that’s just what we do and that’s just who we are.”
