The college basketball player, who faced backlash for taunting Iowa's Caitlin Clark during the NCAA championship game, shows off her bikini body as she makes her Sports Illustrated SI debut.
- May 9, 2023
AceShowbiz - Angel Reese has just landed on the spreads of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue after becoming the talk of the town in recent weeks. The LSU Tigers star is set to make her debut as Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model in the 2023 issue that will hit the shelves later this month.
For the annual swimsuit issue, the 21-year-old posed for photographer Yu Tsai in Los Angeles, trading in her purple legging for a purple two-piece. In one of the photos which have been published online, she did the ring pose that she threw up in celebration at the 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament championship game back in April.
Angel faced backlash over her gestures at the game, which was won by her team. She was called out for her "classless" moves after taunting Iowa's Caitlin Clark toward the end of the game by pointing to her finger, signifying that it was her turn to get that championship ring. She also hit Caitlin with the John Cena "you can't see me" taunt as she walked past the Iowa point guard.
In an interview with the magazine, Angel says, "Caitlin and I are cool. It's just being able to force people to accept that women can talk trash." She claps back at the double standard in sports, claiming, "The women's side gets penalized for it, or we're considered as not being ladylike and that we're not playing by the rules. We work just as hard as the men. Women can be who we are. Women can be competitive."
Despite the backlash, Angel's popularity has soared, with her social media accounts amassing 4 million followers across TikTok, Instagram and Twitter. "Having so many people come back to me and say, 'You guys have changed the game. You guys have been a part of history,' I embraced that," she says of her fans' support. "Just being able to be a part of this has just been amazing for me this year, and it's been a blessing."
