Angel Reese calls out hypocrisy over Quinn Ewers, Ja Morant celebrations
Angel Reese is feeling déjà vu.
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers appeared to perform the same outstretched-arm celebration during the Sugar Bowl on Monday that Grizzlies star Ja Morant did last week, with some critics slamming Morant because they believed he was making a gun gesture after recently returning from a 25-game suspension for flashing a gun in an Instagram video for the second time.
Reese, the LSU women’s basketball star who was embroiled in her own celebration controversy with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark during the NCAA championship game in April, responded to a photo comparing the Barstool X account’s reactions to Ewers and Morant.
The account tweeted “Quinn Ewers is having fun,” and “Ja spraying imaginary bullets into section 113 after the slam.”
“Lol i’ve seen this before….,” Reese wrote on X.
Reese famously taunted Clark during the championship game, doing the same John Cena “you can’t see me” hand gesture that Clark did during the Elite Eight before pointing to her ring finger as LSU went on to win the national title.
Angel Reese taunting Caitlin Clark during the LSU-Iowa national championship game on April 2, 2023.Getty Images
Reese was criticized by many for the gesture, something ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said at the time had to do with race.
“We all know that there’s a white/black issue here, because the fact of the matter is when Caitlin did it people were celebrating it, and they were talking about nothing but her greatness,” Smith said on “First Take” in April after the title game.
“But then the second a sister stepped up, and threw it back in her face, now you’ve got half the basketball world saying, [in a mocking tone], ‘Well, that’s not the classiest thing to do.’ It was the exact same thing!”
— wow that was crazy (@CowardlyDoggo) January 2, 2024
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers’ celebration during the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2024.ESPN
AYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/hwVXbU5UY7
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) December 27, 2023
Ja Morant celebrated following his dunk in overtime to seal the Grizzlies’ victory against the Pelicans.Screengrab via X/@memgrizz
Morant responded to Barstool’s Ewers tweet with a crying laughing emoji.
The Grizzlies guard was suspended eight games last year after the first time he flashed a gun in an Instagram video and received the 25-game ban when it happened a second time.
He returned to the team on Dec. 19.
