The WNBA found no evidence of racism towards Angel Reese during a game between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever earlier this month, and Reese has since drawn criticism for the role she played in perpetuating the narrative.
Reese got heated with Caitlin Clark after being on the receiving end of a hard foul in Chicago’s season-opening game at Indiana on May 17. The WNBA said a day later that it was investigating claims that racist comments were made during the game towards Reese.
On Tuesday, the WNBA announced that they looked through audio and video and conducted interviews with fans, team and arena staff. There was no evidence of racist comments or noises being made toward Reese.
Reese issued a response
After the WNBA announced they were investigating, Reese had a chance to say she did not hear any racist taunts. Instead, she took the since-disproven claim as an opportunity to lecture fans.
Reese spoke with the media about how much support she had received from the WNBA and the Sky organization.
“There’s no place in this league for that. I think the WNBA and our team and our organization has done a great job supporting me. I’ve had communication from so many people across this league and being able to support me,” Reese said. “Going through this whole process obviously, it could happen to me, it could happen to anyone. I think they’ve done a great job supporting us in this.”
A reporter then asked Reese how she was affected during the game against the Fever and how she was able to focus “with this going on simultaneously.” The “this” that the reporter referred to was the racist heckling that apparently did not exist. Reese did admit that it was “hard to hear” the taunts.
“Yeah, obviously it’s tough, but I think I have a great support system. I’m loved by so many people and obviously in the moment it’s hard to hear, but my support system is great,” Reese added. “God has protected me in so many different ways. I’ve gone through so many different things in the past couple of years of my life.”
Angel Reese on the wnba opening an investigation into the reported hate speech that was directed towards her during the Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever game on Saturday.
I'm glad she has a great support system behind her. She deserves it#angelreese #chicagosky #skytown pic.twitter.com/qVa0LtTQSj
— Angel Reese's Lover (@AngelReese38366) May 21, 2025
Where did the claims originate?
One theory about the so-called racist taunts suggests some noises were made while Reese was attempting free throws. It turns out that a fan was mimicking a high-pitched laugh from streamer “FlightReacts” that has turned into a famous meme. The laugh sounded like a dolphin but may have sounded to some like monkey noises.
Not only was the WNBA unable to substantiate the claims, but it also sounds like the source of the original racism claims was extremely dubious and appeared to stem from some X user who wasn’t even at the game.
“It’s really nasty and racist in this arena,” the X user wrote in a since-deleted post.
That may have been all it took for the league to look into the matter.
Reese seemed more than willing to play the victim role before any facts were uncovered.