Even after Angel Reese had fouled out of her LSU team's disappointing 76-70 loss to South Carolina on Thursday night, the star forward still provided spectators with a memorable moment.
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Reese went viral last night after confronting teammate Hailey Van Lith during an LSU timeout with just over 90 seconds left in the game; largely because of how similar Reese looked to Draymond Green, when Green had his iconic interaction with then-teammate Kevin Durant during the Golden State Warriors' dynastic run a few years ago.
Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith reminds me of the Draymond - KD GIF pic.twitter.com/bDfEybrKNU
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) January 26, 2024
While it may appear that Reese is scolding former Louisville standout Van Lith for a mistake she made, that couldn't be further from the truth.
Prior to that timeout, Van Lith had drained a clutch three-pointer to tie the score at 70. Since Reese — who finished the game with 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two blocks — had already fouled out of the game by that point, she seemed to be telling her teammate to keep taking the clutch shots in her absence.
We can safely assume this was the case because Reese could be heard screaming, "SHOOT THE BALL HAILEY!" to Van Lith just a few minutes before their timeout interaction took place.
Reese's advise is also similar to what Green was telling Durant in their all-time great interaction, as we learned during a 2021 episode of Durant's "ETC" podcast between the former teammates.
"I was definitely gassing him up," Green explained during the podcast. "Like yo, can't nobody f-k with you, can't nobody f-king stop you. That's what I was saying."
Reese must have seen the polarizing Warriors forward's example, and sought to inspire the same through her own display of leadership.
Unfortunately, whatever Reese said to Van Lith didn't turn the tide in LSU's favor, as their team scored zero more points from that point on and ended up losing to (the still undefeated) South Carolina by six.
While LSU coach Kim Mulkey attributed their loss to due to South Carolina having more experience, LSU not having defeated the Gamecocks since 2012 would suggest that they simply have LSU's number.
Perhaps these two top-tier squads will square off once again, either in the SEC Tournament or in the NCAA Tournament. If they do, both Mulkey and Reese will be hoping to impart some words of wisdom to their team that will result in a win.
