Jemele Hill has come out in defense of Louisiana State University star athlete Angel Reese after a sports commentator took to Twitter to drag her after a controversial week she faced in the press.
In a tweet posted Sunday, Apr, 2, Barstool Sports Founder Dave Portnoy wrote that Reese was a “classless piece of sh*t.”
Reese has been at the center of sports conversations over the past week after she was accused of taunting Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark at the end of Sunday’s NCAA women’s basketball national championship game.
Reactions to Reese’s “you can’t see me hand” were mixed with some stating her gesture was taken out of context while others deemed it as unsportsmanlike conduct.
Portnoy, obviously, was one who took offense to the gesture when he tweeted his thoughts, which caused former ESPN host Jemele Hill to respond.
“So I’m going to pick this fight,” Hill tweeted in response to Portnoy’s tweet. “Fu*k you.”
Former NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal chimed in to Portnoy’s “classless” tweet, stating that “and so is your mother.”
Reese has remained unapologetic about her gesture during the game.
“I’m too hood, I’m too ghetto. Y’all told me that all year,” she said during a press conference following the game. But when other people do it, y’all don’t say nothing. So this is for the girls that look like me.”
Reese further explained to ESPN that in the moment she gave props to Clark even though Clark waved off a player in South Carolina during the national semifinal.
“Caitlin Clark is a hell of a player for sure, but I don’t take disrespect lightly,” Reese said. “And she disrespected Alexis and South Carolina, they’re still my SEC girls, too. You all are not going to disrespect them either. I wanted to pick her pocket. I had a moment at the end of the game, and I was just in my bag.”
Last month, the LSU basketball star received praise after becoming the first player with 25 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks in an NCAA Women’s Tournament game since 2000.
