The WNBA Finals between the Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries have seen no shortage of physicality, with each team showing off their defensive prowess in their wins. However, not every collision has escaped scrutiny, and in Game 5, Angel Reese found herself at the center of a contentious moment that the broadcasters seemingly played off.
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During the second quarter, with about 38 seconds on the clock, Reese drove into the paint on two Valkyries defenders, Kayla Thornton and Veronica Burton. As she drove and brought the ball up to shoot, her elbow hit Thornton’s face. However, Thornton was called for a shooting foul, prompting the broadcasters to examine the sequence on a replay.
“The elbow. Yeah, it gets Kayla Thornton good,” announcer Kate Scott noted in a clip shared on X by user @Hero_OfThe_Day.
“Looks like some inadvertent contact as she’s trying to clear some space and go up.”
Scott’s comments came as the referees refused to take another look at it, staying with their ruling of Thornton fouling. Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase didn’t ask for a challenge on the call either.
Under Rule No. 10 in Section X of the WNBA rulebook, offensive players cannot use swinging elbows when defenders are nearby, as it can lead to turnovers and give the ball to the other side. However, in this situation, the foul was called on Thornton because she crowded the offensive player, Reese in this case, too closely, and Reese was hit as a result of the illegal guarding position. The subsequent contact from Reese was ruled incidental for this reason.
This isn’t the only time Reese’s physical play has caught attention in this series either. In Game 1, she was involved in two incidents involving Burton and Gabby Williams. She made contact with Williams’ face on back-to-back possessions while fighting for the ball, but neither was called despite the Valkyries star grabbing her face in pain.
Later, Reese came from behind as Burton tried to put up a layup. Reese tried to block her with both hands, but she hit the player instead of the ball, hitting the floor and holding her face. This exchange didn’t lead to a foul call either.
However, despite Reese’s physical play, she was not able to bring home a win for the Dream. Atlanta lost 64-55 to the Valkyries, with Reese shooting a poor 2-8 from the field for seven points. She did grab 15 rebounds and five assists, but fouled Golden State’s players four times and turned the ball over thrice.
Now, as the series heads back to Atlanta for what could be the final game of the series, Reese and the Dream will look to bounce back after taking the L.