Atlanta Dream star Angel Reese was one of many people who took issue with the officiating in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Monday evening.
Reese and the Dream fell 64-55 to the Golden State Valkyries – putting Atlanta one loss away from yet another Finals defeat.
Atlanta maintains they were on the bad end of the officiating scale throughout the contest. However, some fans think Reese’s actions early in the game should have led to her being kicked out.
In the first quarter, Reese was in the paint with the ball when she tried to make a move past Valkyries star Kayla Thornton.
As she pivoted, Reese caught Thornton in the cheek with her elbow, leading to a common foul being called.
Some fans believed Reese should have been assessed a flagrant or an upgraded foul – especially after her back-and-forth with an official in Game 4.
Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream criticized the officiating after Game 5 of the WNBA Finals
However, fans noted Reese elbowed Kayla Thornton (L) in the face leading to a foul early
The Dream coach noted: ‘The contact on Angel compared to everybody else is just ridiculous.’
‘Unbelievable. Angel Reese uses her elbow to viciously strike the defender in the face. Refs don’t even review! The broadcast calls it ‘inadvertent’ lol What’s going on with these WNBA refs??’ one fan wrote on X.
Another added, ‘That should have been a flagrant foul on Angel Reese or a review at the LEAST. She can throw an elbow straight into Kayla Thornton’s face and we get no look at the call? What are we doing? You ALWAYS take a look at contact above the head especially in a physical series like this.’
A third wrote, ‘OK, i’ve talked about this before. Angel Reese just wound up and clocked another player with her elbow. The refs nothing intentional here, nothing to see. I’m sick of it, call the game.’
‘Basketball games have a million reviews these days, not sure why the Angel Reese elbow to the face didn’t,’ another posted.
Following the game’s conclusion, Reese addressed the incident: ‘When I do a switch on the post and I’m a lot stronger than the opponent, I should be able to turn. And they’re calling an offensive foul but… I’m getting pushed before that. So that’s frustrating for sure.’
She added that the officiating ‘definitely shifted when we went up 2-1’ in the series: ‘I don’t know what happened, but it definitely took a big turn,’ Reese also said.
Her coach, Karl Smesko, backed Reese up – telling reporters: ‘The contact on Angel compared to everybody else is just ridiculous.’
The Valkyries are now one win away from winning a title after just two seasons of existence. They’ll fly out to Atlanta to play the Dream on Thursday afternoon after a controversial re-schedule ended with the game being played at 12.30pm ET – or 9.30am back in California.
