Angel Reese has had it with the media.
When the media isn’t pitting the Chicago Sky rookie and Caitlin Clark against one another, they’re twisting her words. Or, at least, that’s what Reese is accusing the media at large of twisting them, which is why she kept a somewhat contentious meeting with reporters short and not-so-sweet.
As transcribed by the New York Post, Reese reportedly told Chicago Sun-Times columnist Steve Greenberg, “I know how y’all like to twist my words, so I’m just keeping it short and sweet.”
This was in response to Greenberg asking her about short answers, which made for an awkward — at best — interview.
“I can’t trust any of y’all. So I’m just letting you know — short and sweet,” she said.
That’s quite the escalation, but not surprising considering what’s transpired off the court in Reese’s first taste of professional basketball. Whether it’s a referendum on the local Chicago media or the media at large, she’s had just about enough.
Those in the sports media sphere, including Frank Isola and Skip Bayless, amongst several others, have wondered aloud if Reese actually wants to be the league’s villain. They have also criticized her for appearing “bitter and jealous” toward Clark in a recent press conference.
That’s not the sole reason Reese distrusts the media, but it provides context for why she didn’t want to oblige to an in-depth interview with Greenberg.
While so many questions have been off-the-court centric, Greenberg aimed to shift the conversation away from those narratives and explore Reese’s experiences as a 22-year-old navigating the demands of her new job. And in case the aforementioned quotes didn’t illustrate that well enough, Reese wanted nothing to do with Greenberg or the interview itself.
“It went so well, the word ‘catastrophe’ quickly came to mind,” Greenberg wrote. “A few questions in, it was clear that one- or two-word answers were the order of the day. And that something was wrong, even though Reese essentially had ignored a couple of questions by saying, dismissively, ‘I’m good.'”
Greenberg acknowledged the unseen pressures Reese might be facing, suggesting her situation is more complex than a typical rookie experience.
Sky head coach Teresa Witherspoon echoed this sentiment, highlighting the potential toll of constant media scrutiny.
“I think sometimes we fail to realize what the athlete might think,” Witherspoon said, per Greenberg. “What is she thinking? How does she feel? I think sometimes we just fail to realize that because it’s almost like every time she speaks, there’s something wrong with what she says. There’s something wrong with what she does. That’s what it seems like. But what we do here as a team, that’s really all that matters.”
And Witherspoon had had run-ins with the media of her own.
With mounting pressure and a desire to control her narrative, Reese finds herself at a crossroads. It remains to be seen if she can navigate the media landscape or if it’ll continue to overshadow her on-court performance.
[Chicago Sun-Times, The New York Post]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.