Robert Griffin III (known as RGIII) and Ryan Clark are in yet another debate centered around Angel Reese, except this time, the WNBA star chimed in. On July 10, RGIII appeared to be coming to Reese’s defense in a lengthy tweet condemning the racist recreation of the Chicago Sky player’s 2K26 cover, which replaced Reese with the image of a monkey playing basketball.
“Alright. This has got to stop. There is no place for racism in this world,” Griffin wrote on X, which included an image of the racist meme. “Whether you like a player or not. Angel Reese should never be called or depicted as a Monkey.”
However, his message took a turn when the sports commentator not only accused the WNBA star of sharing a video that led to his family and friends receiving death threats but also claimed that unnamed “people in Angel’s inner circle” told him that he was correct about his previous speculation that Reese hates fellow WNBA player Caitlin Clark “because of the media always asking her about Caitlin and being constantly compared to her.”
His tweet prompted responses from both Reese, her mother and fellow sports commentator Ryan Clark.
“Man, stop with the 🧢 My daughter’s ‘circle’ is so small & tight, so I’d be interested [to] know who called U Whomever U say “called” U 🤔 is not in her circle [to] speak on her feelings towards a media/fandom made up beef. Just stay on that side bc the doors are closed over here,” Reese’s mother tweeted in response to his claim.
Reese later wrote: “Lying on this app when everybody know the first and last name of everybody in my circle for clout is nastyyyy work,” in a tweet addressing RGIII’s comments.
Clark, who got into a social media feud with RGIII in May for pushing the narrative that Reese hates Caitlin Clark, took to Instagram to share his take.
“RGIII seems to have a strange fascination with Angel Reese or connection to the spotlight that it brings,” the Pivot podcast host shared. “Angel Reese, this young, beautiful, talented, hard working, successful, black woman who is on an absolute tear in the WNBA has an opportunity now to unveil her own shoe is depicted as a monkey in this graphic –– a graphic I only saw on [RGIII’s] page, so now his millions of followers can see this. And it should be easy to defend her against such deplorable hate, racism, bigotry, and evil. But he couldn’t do that. He had to make himself both the victim and the hero of this story.”
“He had to mention that Angel Reese did something to him instead of acknowledging what he initially did to her; he had to be the champion again for Caitlin Clark, I guess, against the young, angry Black woman by lying on her and her inner circle,” he continued. “So now Angel Reese, who should be in a celebration and trying to ignore the noise of all the evil and attacks that she feels every single day, has to come out, along with her mother, to shut down these lies and accusations from RGIII.”
A few months ago, Clark and RGIII got into a public sports feud that turned personal after RGIII dropped a lengthy anti-Reese video, inciting a narrative that Reese was jealous and resentful of Caitlin Clark’s popularity, which was riddled with racial undertones. While Clark abstained from making any comments about RGIII’s Blackness and wife this time, he did call out the way in which the former ESPN analyst uses his platform.
“We have to stop this. Because, by his own admission, he says, ‘if you don’t support people that don’t look like you, then you’re a part of the problem.’ Let me be clear, if you never support people who look like you, you are also a part of the problem,” Clark concluded. “God made us with the responsibility for inclusion, compassion, empathy, and love for all people. We also have that same responsibility for our people.”
