Lonzo Ball has Angel Reese’s back.
The injured Bulls guard offered to pay any potential fine for Angel Reese after she received a double technical and was ejected from the Sky’s 88-75 loss to the Liberty on Tuesday.
The incident came late in the fourth quarter when Reese was called for a foul while chasing down a rebound.
Reese, who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, had words for referee Charles Watson and waved her hands in frustration.
Lead referee Maj Forsberg told the Chicago Tribune that Reese initially “disrespectfully addressed” Watson and then “waved off the calling official in resentment to the call” with each action earning a technical.
Ball did not agree.
“Ref that threw out (Reese) is weak btw… You know who you are (Keep ya money Angel I got you),” Ball wrote on X.
Reese responded, “appreciate you gang!” with a heart and crying laughing emoji.
Ball, who has not played since 2022 due to multiple knee injuries, has made $91 million in his NBA career, according to Spotrac.
Reese, who was the No. 7 pick in this year’s WNBA draft, has a four-year, $324,000 rookie contract with the Sky.
Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon was dumbfounded after the game.
“I tried to get an explanation and I did not,” Weatherspoon said during her postgame news conference, according to the Tribune. “I don’t know at this moment what has happened.”
For the first three technicals received in a season, WNBA players are fined $300 per technical, according to CBS.
The former LSU star received a $1,000 fine for failing to address the media following the Sky’s loss to the Fever on Saturday in a game that featured Chicago’s Chennedy Carter hip-checking Caitlin Clark to the ground.
The play, which was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 on Sunday, has turned into a multi-day controversy in the national media.
Reese spoke to reporters in between games and voiced her frustration over Clark getting all the credit for the growth of the women’s game, which had been increasing for years before exploding with the controversial LSU-Iowa national championship game in 2023.
Reese led LSU over Iowa and celebrated by taunting Clark.
“I know I’ll go down in history,” Reese said on Monday. “I’ll look back in 20 years and be like: ‘Yeah, the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person, it’s because of me too, and I want you to realize that… It all started from the national championship game, and I’ve been dealing with this for two years now. Understanding, yeah, negative things have probably been said about me, but honestly I’ll take that because look at where women’s basketball is.
“People are talking about women’s basketball, who you never would think would be talking about women’s basketball. People are pulling up to games. We got celebrities coming to games, sold-out arenas just because of one single game.”
