X/@TheHoopCentral
In a worthy-to-celebrate performance, Angel Ruth Reese scored 17 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. In return, the conversations were rather divided, of praise, skepticism, and dismissal. The forward for the Chicago Sky drilled the basket 8 times out of 13 attempts, and somehow some fans and critics tried to undermine her.
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The post by Hoop Central mentioned all her stats, but the reactions were far from being aligned. One user commented about the irony that Reese’s good performances don’t go viral—it is her struggles that get horribly exaggerated. Another wrote bluntly: “Frankly, none of us care about this girl, but all the pages are hyping this girl unnecessarily.” Those reactions to Reese were split; some took into account how she rose to the occasion, while others would dismiss her double-double as “mediocre.”
Another form of harsh judgment was sarcastic criticism: “The only player in history to be mediocre and their team loses by 20 and every single account is glazing her like crazy the next day.” One sarcastically asked if she really took “7-of-34 from the field,” clearly denoting the efficient scoring outing. Even her minus-eight plus-minus was hurled at her, disregarding basketball being a team game and that one player’s stats don’t always reflect the final score.
Conversely, fans were rebelling against the demolition: “She’s balling and we love it,” one said. “Back to herself. Don’t let the outside Christian nationalist noise bother you,” exclaimed another, alluding to the off-court drama that had surrounded Reese. A few others went on to black out Reese’s name, pointing to dropped passes that were on her teammates and were by all means not her fault.
Reese’s worth debate is nothing new. She has been divisive since her college days; some view her as an overinflated product of the media machine, while others see her as a scrappy and impactful player. Last night’s game was, succeadingly, just a fresh edition to that ever-evolving discourse.
Well, perhaps that was “only night when I bet on her ass (under) ☠️😰,” lamented one punter. Another chimed in with, “I make money off her every game, guaranteed cash when it comes to that double double.” Whether anyone loves her or hates her, the question of Reese remains pertinent—and typically, that is half the battle in sports.
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At the end of the day, Reese held up well according to objective criteria. But these days, good games bring along with themselves endless critiques, from hot takes to selective indignance. The question is whether she keeps silencing doubters with performances like this, or if the noise will get loud enough to drown her out.
This story originally appeared on Celebrityinsider
