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Fans React to Dave Portnoy’s Rant Against Angel Reese

Fans React to Dave Portnoy’s Rant Against Angel Reese

Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek’s network of contributors

Fans don’t like the way Dave Portnoy talks about Chicago Sky star Angel Reese.

THE Sports bar stool The President of the United States released a six-minute speech explaining why he thinks Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, 22, is much better than Reese, 22, on Monday, September 2, criticizing the opinions of athletes like Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes. He captioned the text: “The media needs to stop comparing Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. It’s unfair and cruel.”

The 47-year-old businessman insisted he “had to do something,” after reading Leslie’s tweet claiming that “both players deserve Rookie of the Year awards.” The big Clark fan said that “anybody with eyes, who’s ever watched basketball in their life, knows that they’re not even in the same county, zip code, country, universe as the players,” and suggested that race could be the reason people are rooting for Reese.

Dave Portnoy
Barstool Founder and CEO Dave Portnoy is seen before the game between the Florida Atlantic Owls and the Loyola (Il) Ramblers during the Barstool Invitational at Wintrust Arena on November 8, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. In September 2024,…


Michael Hickey/Getty Images

“If you say that’s the case, you have an agenda. You’re lying,” Portnoy said. “Maybe you’re a black person, I don’t know, who can’t lose credibility by saying a white player from Iowa is better than a black girl. I don’t know.”

Many fans took to X to denounce Portnoy’s stance, with one posting, “Nah man the way Dave Portnoy talks about Angel Reese is really disgusting and weird like that shit isn’t normal.” Another X user shared, “Dave Portnoy is another non-athlete living vicariously through Angel Reese and others… Portnoy is a clown 🤡.”

Others suggested that Portnoy was being deliberately offensive to get clicks. “What’s really sad is that Dave Portnoy only talks about Angel Reese to get clicks. Barstool has lost its relevance and the only way Dave can stay in the conversation is by putting Angel down every week and trying to denigrate any accolades she gets. He disgusts me 🤮🤮🤮,” one fan wrote.

“He really posted this without irony. He doesn’t realize how hypocritical this is, being one of the main people “in the media” to compare the two… The Davey controversy is doing it again,” another person posted, seemingly calling Portnoy’s response hypocritical.

Elsewhere in his video, Portnoy claimed he was “beginning to worry about Angel Reese and her mental health,” saying, “No one should have to live under unfair and unattainable expectations their entire lives.”

He called Reese “a great rebounder” but also “one of the worst shooters in the league.” He added, “They’re both not rookies, and that’s OK. Not everybody’s Michael Jordan … Some of them are poor man’s Dennis Rodmans.”

The latest post comes after Reese seemingly responded to previous attacks on her abilities from Portnoy. She took to X on August 25 to say, “If it was easy, everyone would do it. We’re good! #skytown.”