Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark speak out after LSU star's controversial celebration during national championship

LSU captured its first ever national title with a 102-85 win over Iowa on Sunday, and Angel Reese was a huge reason why as she recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. With under a minute remaining, Reese began celebrating by doing John Cena's "You can't see me" gesture, the same one Clark used against Louisville in the Elite Eight. But while social media largely praised Clark for her moxie, Reese got the opposite reaction.  

Here's a look at Reese and Clark each doing the gesture, with the only difference between the two being that Reese followed hers up by pointing to her ring finger. 

Many social media users called Reese "classless" for making the gesture with Iowa on the brink of defeat. After the game, Reese argued the criticism is tied to who she is -- and that it's nothing new. 

"All year I was critiqued about who I was. ... I don't fit the narrative. I don't fit in a box that y'all want me to be in. I'm too hood. I'm too ghetto. Y'all told me that all year. But when other people do it, y'all say nothing," Reese said. "So this was for the girls that look like me, that's going to speak up on what they believe in. It's unapologetically you. That's what I did it for tonight. It was bigger than me tonight. It was bigger than me. Twitter is 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 in the next season."

Reese later doubled down on her actions, posting a picture of her gesture on social media. 

While some segments of social media were outraged with Reese's gesture, the one who experienced it first hand didn't think much of it at all. Clark explained after the game she had "no idea" Reese was taunting her, adding that her focus was getting to the handshake line to "be grateful that my team was in that position." 

"All you can do is hold your head high, be proud of what you did, and all the credit in the world to LSU," Clark said. "They were tremendous, they deserve it. They had a tremendous season. Kim Mulkey coached them so, so well. She's one of the best basketball coaches of all time, and she only said really kind things to me in the handshake line, so I'm very grateful for that too. But honestly I have no idea, and I was just trying to spend the last few moments on the court with especially the five people that I've started 93 games with and relishing every second of that." 

After knocking off defending champion South Carolina, setting multiple NCAA Tournament records and captivating the nation with her offensive ability, Clark has chosen to leave the 2022-23 season on the high road.