Sometimes, the loudest moments of a playoff series can hang over the players long after the final buzzer. For one Indiana Fever rookie, her comments following their loss to the Las Vegas Aces quickly turned into a chance to take responsibility, and her former coach Dawn Staley was among the first to respond.

That rookie is Raven Johnson, who found herself at the center of attention after appearing next to teammate Myisha Hines-Allen during the postgame interview, where they discussed a moment during Game 2 of the Las Vegas Aces-Indiana Fever playoff series, when Aces star A’ja Wilson was part of an altercation with a Fever fan. Staley quoted Johnson’s apology post on X, adding her own thoughts.

“Ray Ray I love you for life,” Dawn Staley wrote on X. “You are a young talent that’s owning this moment. You did something in public and decided to apologize in public no matter who agrees or disagrees. Always remember your @GamecockWBB sisters will have love for you!”

Dawn Staley’s comments are notable considering both Wilson and Johnson have played under Staley at the University of South Carolina. Wilson led the program to their first national championship in 2017 during her four seasons under Staley, while Johnson won two championships during her five seasons with the Gamecocks.

The incident being referred to took place with 4:10 to go in Game 2. Wilson, who was recovering from a physical exchange with Sophie Cunningham, saw a fan yelling and pointing at her. In response, the forward started walking towards the fan while verbally responding, leading to them being separated by teammates and security.

In the aftermath, Wilson was assessed a technical foul for “unsportsmanlike conduct”. The fan was escorted away by team security, but later returned to their seat, with the Fever later explaining that there was no violation of the Code of Conduct.

The exchange between Wilson and the fan was heavily publicized, especially since it was an extremely rare outburst from the superstar forward. Aces head coach Becky Hammon noted how rare such a reaction from Wilson was as well during her postgame conference, noting that whatever the fan said had to be disrespectful for her to react that way.

Wilson believed she was justified in her reaction.

“If I see a man come at me, taking steps toward me and pointing at me, I don’t give a damn what you said. I don’t give a damn how you said it, the tone, that is unacceptable,” Wilson said postgame.

“You don’t step towards me, you never point at me. I’m not for that s*** at all… But that there is unacceptable. How he gets back in the game because they said he didn’t do anything; of course he did. And that’s fine.”

Then, following Game 2, Johnson and Hines-Allen appeared postgame, with the rookie noting that the media as well as all fans would like to know what caused the events of Game 2, referring to the A’ja Wilson incident.

Then, when Hines-Allen noted that she thrives on chaos and tries to win mentally against her opponents, Johnson responded, “Yeah, and you do it with such a smile on your face. Like, always smiling.”

Finally, after the Game 3 loss for the Fever, Johnson took to X to apologize for her comments in the video with Hines-Allen.

“I sincerely apologize for the comments I made during the video with MHA. What I said was wrong, and I take full responsibility for my words,” she wrote. “I have nothing but love and respect for my big sister 4 life A’ja, and I truly wish her nothing but the best. ❤️.”

Now, with Raven Johnson’s season over and the Aces heading into the next round of the playoffs, the young guard has learned a lesson that has little to do with what happens between the lines and more about owning up to the decisions she made.