You have to wonder if Aminata Gueye wishes she hadn’t done it.
The now-viral moment in which Gueye, while waiting for Angel Reese to shoot a free throw, told the Dream star to “shut the [expletive] up” as the two chirped at each other—and Reese’s response heard ‘round the world—may be the reason Atlanta now boasts a 2-1 series lead on Gueye’s Golden State Valkyries in the WNBA Finals.
From that moment on, Reese has been relentless in her attack against Gueye and anyone else guarding her, pushing her motor and will to dominate to seemingly unheard-of levels. The result: a 30-point, 16-rebound Game 2 performance, and a 21-point, 12-board showing in Game 3 that helped push Atlanta over the top.
And Reese’s ire at Gueye following that Game 2 back-and-forth hasn’t abated one iota since it happened. Even with Game 3 out of hand at a raucous State Farm Arena and the reserves in, Reese wouldn’t stop letting the Valkyries backup big hear it from the bench as rookie Madina Okot scored on her in the waning seconds.
Knowing Reese, she’s not going to stop her war on Gueye and the Valkyries until this series is over and she’s holding a trophy.
After seeing what she’s done to Golden State, maybe opponents will be more careful about riling up ATL Barbie.
Don’t poke the bear
Reese being an elite trash-talker is nothing new. We’ve seen her stare down and go at players going back to her high school and AAU days, and we all know about her most famous instance of doing that with Caitlin Clark.
But as her basketball skills have ascended to match the pure, unadulterated dawg in her, the product has become terrifying. She doesn’t just talk a mean game; she backs it up, and then some.
Some veterans, including Valkyries center and resident Reese-stopper Kiah Stokes, know this. That’s why you never see Stokes yapping at Reese after the many times Stokes has blocked her shot, and Reese never steps to her or taunts her with “too-small” gestures. They play, they keep it professional, and the play goes on.
The minute you feed Reese’s fire, though, she becomes the WNBA version of Pennywise from “It”, even against people she likes and respects like the New York Liberty’s Jonquel Jones or the Dallas Wings’ Paige Bueckers.
With certain players, you just know better than to give them ammunition. NBA Hall-of-Famer Kevin Garnett is a perfect example. Some people are already wired to be hyper-competitive no matter what anyone says or does. Trash-talking and taunting only throws gasoline on the flames, until that player stops merely playing basketball and starts trying to break your will to keep competing.
That’s the energy Reese has brought to the Dream, and that sense of hopelessness the Valkyries had on the bench as the game ticked toward its inevitable conclusion is exactly what that energy is meant to produce.
Reese is no longer just a high-energy, hard-hat/lunch-pail player with a penchant for talking smack. She’s turning into a full-fledged basketball monster just waiting to be unleashed at any time.
Opponents would be wise not to wake the demon up going forward. The Valkyries might just lose the Finals because they did.
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