What Sky's Angel Reese Told Ref Before Getting Ejected [Watch] (2024)

GettySky's Angel Reese on May 15, 2024 in Arlington, Texas.

Angel Reese didn’t get to finish playing during the Chicago Sky’s 88-75 loss to the New York Liberty on Tuesday, June 4.

With approximately 2:31 seconds left in the game, referee Charles Watson didn’t like what he heard, and threw Reese out.

Reese, who already had 5 personal fouls, received a second technical after mouthing off with her back to Watson. Swish Appeal’s Eric Nemchok called it a “SOFT ejection,” and reported that even Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu was surprised by the ref’s decision. “She got two techs just for saying that’s b********?”

Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, who was in attendance at the Wintrust Arena, didn’t like what he saw. Ball posted on X, “Ref that threw out @Reese10Angel is weak btw… You know who you are (Keep ya money Angel I got you).”

Sky’s head coach Teresa Weatherspoon was confused by the ejection. “I tried to get an explanation and I did not. I don’t know at this moment what has happened,” Weatherspoon told reporters after the game.

Lead official Maj Forsberg revealed that Reese’s ejection stemmed from two separate back-to-back technicals, Chicago Sun-Times Annie Costabile reported. “Her first tech was for ‘disrespectfully addressing’ the official,” Costabile wrote. “The second was for waving her had in dismissal of the first.”

UPDATE: The league rescinded Reese’s second technical on Wednesday, June 5, a league spokesman told Costabile.

Reese finished against the Liberty with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 1 assist. The Sky fell to 3-5 on the season while the Liberty improved to 8-2. Ionescu finished with 24 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.

Viewers Had Strongly Mixed Reactions to Angel Reese’s Ejection

Viewers watching the Liberty-Sky matchup filled X with their thoughts on Reese’s ejection. One fan wrote, “As much of a angel Reese hater as I am she did absolutely nothing to warrant a double tech ejection lmao like cmon man.”

Another person posted, “Angel Reese did all that talking. Shot 3-12 and got ejected and ended with 13. Missed 3 layups under the basket. Ion wanna hear no more talking man.”

Numerous fans blamed the ref for overreacting. One woman posted, “Really soft ejection for Angel Reese if that was all it was.”

Angel Reese Addressed Chennedy Carter’s Foul on Caitlin Clark After Getting Fined For Not Speaking to the Media

Reese’s ejection comes on the heels of the hotly debated flagrant-1 violation on Caitlin Clark during the Sky’s 71-70 loss to the Indiana Fever on June 1. The ESPN broadcast captured Reese jumping up from the bench and applauding Chennedy Carter’s hip-check on Clark.

After the game, Reese refused to speak with the media and was fined $1,000. The WNBA also slapped the Sky with a $5,000 for failing to ensure all players comply with the league’s media policy.

The LSU alum spoke to reporters on June 3 and addressed the situation. “It all started with the national championship game, and I’ve been dealing with this for two years now,” Reese said.

“And understanding like, yeah negative things have probably been said about me, but honestly, I’ll take that, because look at where women’s basketball is. People are talking about women’s basketball that you never would think would talk about women’s basketball… Just because of one single game. Just looking at that, I’ll take that role. I’ll take the bad guy role.

“I’ll take the bad guy role and continue to take that and be that for my teammates. If I want to be that, I know I’ll go down in history. I’ll look back in 20 years and be like the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball is not just because of 1 person. It’s because of me, too. I want ya’ll to realize that.

“A lot of us have done so much for this game… There are so many great players in this league that have deserved this for a really long time and luckily, it’s coming now.”