Dave Portnoy has change of heart on Angel Reese | Sports News

Dave Portnoy has seemingly skilled a change of heart after offering his two cents on the blockbuster WNBA commerce involving Angel Reese.

On Monday, the Dream despatched shockwaves throughout the WNBA upon buying Reese from the Sky. In exchange, Atlanta gave up its first-round picks in 2027 and 2028, whereas additionally receiving the proper to swap second-round picks with Chicago in 2028. “I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to join the Atlanta Dream organization,” Reese mentioned in an official assertion. “I’m focused on continuing to grow my game, competing at the highest level, connecting with the fans, and giving everything I’ve got to the Dream.”

The Dream’s acquisition swiftly drew a stamp of approval from Portnoy, who lately argued that Tiger Woods ought to be put “behind bars.” Taking to social media, the Barstool Sports founder wrote: “Atlanta is gonna be very good now.”

Portnoy’s reward of Reese comes as considerably of a shock, given the truth that he’s routinely thrown criticism in her direction. His disdain for the All-Star ahead stems from her heated rivalry with Caitlin Clark, which started during the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship recreation.

At the time, Reese pointed to her ring finger close to and mimicked John Cena’s “You can’t see me” hand gesture, poking enjoyable at a celebration Clark did earlier within the Elite Eight. The tense incident garnered huge consideration, with many people believing there was no love misplaced between the pair.

In response, Portnoy branded Reese a “classless piece of s—,” prompting some online to accuse him of being racist. Yet the 49-year-old has repeatedly insisted that his contempt for the LSU product relies solely on his Clark fandom.

“Fever fans, Caitlin fans should hate Angel Reese,” Portnoy mentioned in an X clip final May. “Angel Reese has been nothing but an instigator, agitator, and jack— basically for the last couple years. Yes, it started in the NCAA final, which we all saw when Angel — no one even knew who she was at this point — taunted and harassed Caitlin for 15-20 seconds after the championship was over. Pointing at the finger, doing this thing to her, stalking her up and down the court.”

In Portnoy’s eyes, Reese has persistently instigated Clark and added fuel to their feud. “If that was the only incident, this thing’s probably dead,” he continued. “But Angel Reese has doubled down, tripled down, quadrupled down, actually built her entire persona about being Caitlin’s rival. Even though talent-wise, they’re not in the same stratosphere. But you name it and Angel Reese has done it.

“Whether it’s after Chennedy Carter knocked Caitlin down on that cheap shot and Angel jumped off the bench doing the lambada. Whether Angel Reese has gone on social media and liked other posts of people being like, ‘The only reason people like Caitlin, she’s white and all Caitlin fans are racist.’ Yes, she likes s— like that online.

“How about when you’re asked a question at a press conference and Angel Reese is like, ‘People aren’t just watching for Caitlin, they’re watching for me. This is my league.’ How about after Angel Reese whacked her in the head with a flagrant foul after the game being like, ‘Some people get a special whistle, I guess.’”