LSU star Angel Reese will join her team for their upcoming trip to the White House to celebrate their recent National Championship win over Iowa, despite being "hurt" that First Lady Jill Biden suggested that both teams be invited.
Reese told ESPN's "SportsCenter" on Friday morning that she's willing to put her feelings aside and attend because she's "a team player" and she wants to do what's best for the team.
"I'm a team player, I'm gonna do what's best for the team." @Reese10Angel confirms she'll join LSU at the White House.
— ESPN (@espn) April 7, 2023
(via @RandyScottESPN) pic.twitter.com/aY89aL6VS2
“At the beginning we were hurt, it was emotional for us because we know how hard we worked all year for everything and just being able to see that, that hurt us in the moment.
“But just going back on it, you don’t get that experience ever so being able to go back, and I know my team probably wants to go for sure and my coaches is supportive of that so I’m going to do what’s best for the team and if they would like to go and we decide we’re going to go, then we’re going to go.
“But it was tough just seeing that in the beginning but I think we’ll all come together and I think it’ll be good.”
It's been a ridiculous week for Reese, and it started with LSU beating Caitlin Clark and Iowa to win the National Championship. Reese became the focus when she did a "you can't see me" gesture toward Iowa, something which Clark herself had done earlier. However Reese caught a lot of flack for being so competitive while Clark got pretty much zero, once again illustrating how Black people — Black women especially — are criticized for doing what white people do freely.
Then Jill Biden commented that she wanted to invite both LSU and Iowa to the White House “because they played such a good game.” A visit to the White House is typically reserved for winners only, so Reese and some of her teammates took offense to the First Lady also wanting to visit with Iowa, the losers. The First Lady's press secretary later clarified that she hadn't meant to disrespect LSU, and that the invitation would be extended to only the winners as customary.
Even though Reese first declined the invite, saying LSU wouldn't attend due to the "double standard," the school later announced that the team accepted the invitation. Reese was the last piece of the puzzle, so it now appears that the entire team is committed to going.
