Angel Reese and Ja Morant aren’t letting inconsistent media coverage slide.
The pair of star basketball players reacted on social media when Barstool Sports posted about Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers’ celebration in the Sugar Bowl. Ewers made the motion of pulling a gun’s trigger multiple times to the end zone he was facing. Barstool’s caption read, “Quinn Ewers is having fun.”
Only a few days prior, Ja Morant stirred up controversy for doing the same celebration. Both games were played in the state of Louisiana and the celebration is based in the Southern state, very similar to how Justin Jefferson and Joe Burrow’s “get the gat” celebration was popularized by the LSU football team a few years ago.
Morant responded to Barstool’s tweet with a laughing emoji.
😂
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) January 2, 2024
Reese also responded to the outlet’s inconsistent coverage of athletes’ celebratory behavior. In April, after the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball national championship game, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy called Reese a “classless piece of s—” after she taunted the Iowa star guard Caitlin Clark in the final moments of the game. For added context, Reese was imitating Clark’s “you can’t see me” celebration the Iowa guard did throughout the NCAA Tournament, inspired by rapper Tony Yayo and wrestler John Cena. Clark’s celebration was applauded, while Reese was criticized. Her response to the latest case of hypocrisy?
“Lol,” Reese posted. “I’ve seen this before …”
lol i’ve seen this before…. https://t.co/7XZZBdQipp
— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) January 2, 2024
Barstool is an outlet with a problematic past, particularly when it comes to race relations. Portnoy has used the N-word on camera and joked that Colin Kaepernick looked like Osama Bin Laden in 2016.
Dave Portnoy uses the N word on his podcast like he's Katt Williams. He wants to talk about class??? But he's not racist though??? pic.twitter.com/WC91E4ZKDb
— @ShinNerdzilla (@shinnerdzilla) April 4, 2023
Portnoy and the overall reputation led to a handful of Black podcast hosts on the platform leaving in 2020, and criticism of other Black prominent voices like Deion Sanders and “Million Dollaz Worth of Game” when they partnered with the platform.
