Dave Portnoy defends Angel Reese criticism, says ESPN makes Caitlin Clark rivalry about race

Dave Portnoy will not let anyone say he is a Caitlin Clark fan simply because she is White.

In a recent edition of his podcast, ESPN analyst Ryan Clark name-dropped the Barstool Sports founder as someone on the “hate train” of Angel Reese following her spat with Clark over the weekend.

Clark said Portnoy, Keith Olbermann and Robert Griffin III have made Reese the “villain” and Clark “heroic.”

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Barstool founder and CEO Dave Portnoy (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

Portnoy posted a video over six minutes long in which he said he “can’t believe I’m ranting about this again,” responding to Clark.

Portnoy made it a point to mention that he is “sure there are some Black people who hate Caitlin just because she’s White. I’m sure there are White people who hate Angel just because she’s Black.”

But he is not one of those people, and he believed the Reese hate is warranted. 

“Caitlin fans have every reason to hate Angel Reese. … Fever fans, Caitlin fans should hate Angel Reese. Angel Reese has been nothing but an instigator, agitator and jacka– basically for the last couple years,” Portnoy said in his video.

“Angel Reese has doubled down, tripled down, quadrupled down and has built her persona as Caitlin’s rival. … It’s one thing after another, after another. … The jealousy that Angel Reese has towards her and has consistently shown makes Caitlin fans hate her. … When you have one player that’s constantly poking at you, constantly degrading you, yes, you’re going to f—ing hate her.”

“I’m sick of ESPN making it a race issue,” he continued. “You have a superior basketball player who constantly has someone below taking shots at them, won’t shut up and then plays the victim. … If [Angel] didn’t have Caitlin, nobody would know who she is. If Caitlin didn’t have Angel, it would be the same popularity for Caitlin.”

Dave Portnoy weighed in on the Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark rivalry. (IMAGN)

CAITLIN CLARK SPEAKS OUT ON WNBA’S PROBE INTO ALLEGED ‘HATEFUL COMMENTS’ TOWARD ANGEL REESE

Clark and Reese got into a mini-scuffle after Clark fouled Reese hard; it was ruled a flagrant. Clark later labeled the foul as a “good take foul,” as she didn’t want Reese to have a “free two points” underneath the basket. Reese later agreed despite her visible frustrations early on.

Clark and Reese have major history going back to the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball national championship. Both players downplayed the incident. Both have even said there’s no rivalry between them and that it’s been driven by the media.

Portnoy attended the contest and said Reese “deserved to get booed” after getting upset with Clark. He was also upset with the WNBA’s investigation into alleged hate comments directed toward Reese.

“Listen, I was at the game. If there was somebody being racist or saying s—, obviously boot them, never let them back,” Portnoy said. “I would be stunned beyond belief if that was the case. … The crowd at the Fever game? Little girls, families, ladies, nice crowd. Were we mad when Angel Reese attacked Cailtin Clark for no reason? Yeah. Did we boo her? Yeah. Is it sports? Yeah.

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy looks up at the scoreboard during a May 17, 2025, game between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Grace Smith-IndyStar via Imagn Images)

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“For the WNBA and now the Indiana Fever to issue statements, ‘We’re investigating,’ unless something so preposterous happened that nobody in the stadium saw, there’s not an ounce of proof, there’s not a video of it, there’s [no] camera phone of it, unless something happened, which I know it didn’t. For them to acknowledge this and, again, kind of paint Indiana Fever fans, like, by just saying ‘We’re investigating the hate’ … even though it’s 100% false, by acknowledging, ‘We don’t condone hate,’ and not seeing that this was an internet rumor founded of complete bulls—, you’re lending credence to this.”

Clark told ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the third quarter that there had been “nothing malicious” behind the foul.

Fox News’ Chantz Martin contributed to this report.

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