Charles Barkley: Angel Reese taunt took away from national championship game

Angel Reese is the most polarizing figure in college basketball after she taunted Iowa star Caitlin Clark toward the end of LSU‘s national championship victory over the Hawkeyes.

Everyone is giving their two cents on the matter, that includes Charles Barkley. The former NBA star shared his opinion on why he is against the celebration during the men’s national championship pregame show Monday night.

“I thought it took away from the game, but in fairness, Caitlin had done that in a game before,” Barkley said on Championship Central on CBS. “I just thought it took too much attention away from the great performance from [Angel Reese].

“Then, you have all these fools on the internet and on television — and first, they’ll make it about race as part of it. Unclassy and things like that, but hey, [LSU] deserves to celebrate, but it’s unfortunate that everyone is talking about that instead of the great performance.”

Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith chimed in on the matter as well, saying that all the cameras will pick up the taunt, but don’t have them rolling when she’s in the gym honing her craft. It’s not unusual if you’re in the line of competition, it’s uncommon for the cameras to see it, he said. Fellow co-host Greg Gumble said she had an attitude.

“So this is for the girls that look like me,” Reese said after winning the national championship. “That’s gonna speak up on what they believe in, it’s unapologetically you, and that’s what I did it for tonight. This was bigger than me tonight, it was bigger than me. Twitter’s going to go on a rage every time and I’m happy, I feel like I’ve helped grow women’s basketball this year, I’m super happy and excited so I’m looking forward to celebrating into next season.”

Reese finished the championship with a 15-point and 10-rebound double-double. On the season, Reese ended the year as LSU’s leading scorer and rebounder by a good margin. She averaged 23 points and 15.4 rebounds per game en route to becoming the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player.

Reese’s path to a national title is a direct result of her own willingness to relocate to LSU last offseason and buy into coach Kim Mulkey’s vision. Reese transferred to the Tigers from Maryland and became the most significant off-season addition to Mulkey’s squad.

The incredible season Reese put forward earned her unanimous first-team All-American honors, as well as SEC first-team All-Defensive honors. During the championship game, Reese’s tenth rebound gave her the 34th double-double of her season — an NCAA women’s Division I basketball record for a single season.