Sabrina Ionescu Addresses Angel Reese's Unrivaled 'Can't Guard' Trash Talk
The Unrivaled 3x3 women's basketball league has done a fantastic job quelling fans' cravings regarding their beloved sport and its players during the extremely long WNBA offseason.
Not only do fans get to watch most of the world's best women's basketball players competing, but they're also able to see them interacting with each other both on and off the court. While this has lent itself to numerous heartwarming moments, one can't forget that these are extreme competitors.
This was exemplified during a January 31 game between Rose BC and Phantom BC, where Chicago Sky and Rose superstar Angel Reese (who had a fantastic game on February 21) could be heard saying, "Sabrina [Ionescu] can't f****** guard!" to her team during a timeout.
We all heard Angel Reese during that timeout right hahaha#Unrivaled pic.twitter.com/RPpwaChngb
— Ashton Jeanlewis (@fb_playbook) February 1, 2025
Unsurprisingly, this moment went viral, with some fans lamenting Reese's lack of indiscretion and her throwing shade Ionescu's way.
However, Ionescu wasn't bothered by this moment, which was conveyed during an interview with the Ringer NBA show that was released on February 18.
"Oh, that's fine. I mean, that's just basketball," Ionescu said when interviewer John Jastremski asked her about Reese's comment. "I don't mind. It's basketball at the end of the day, and I think it's kind of part of our sport. People trash talk, people talk about what you can't do on the court. You see it in the NFL, you see it in the NBA, you see it everywhere.
"But for some reason, when it gets to women's sports, it's like people don't want to talk about it," Ionescu continued. "I don't pay too much mind to that one because we won and I had 32 points. So for me, I kind of just let my game do the talking and everything else kind of takes care of itself."
Trash talk is a part of sports but it’s only frowned upon when women do it
— Domo 🗽 🏆 (@ddubxdo) February 22, 2025
This guy was trying to be messy with Angel Reese but Sabrina shut it down.
Let your game do the talking 🤷🏾♀️ pic.twitter.com/NK89nAOztd
Not only did Ionescu not take the bait, but she offered a wise and poignant response to what could have been a heated question.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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