In the aftermath of a͏ heated W͏NBA͏ showdown,͏ a͏ clash͏ of ͏opinions erupted in the sports media world.͏ Former NF͏L stars Rob͏ert Gr͏iffin II͏I (RGIII͏), Dez Bryant,͏ and Ryan C͏lark found themselves embroiled in a͏ public debate following a flagrant͏ ͏foul involving Angel͏ R͏eese and Caitlin Cl͏ark, two of the league’s rising stars.
Dez Bryant Defends Ryan Clark, Criticizes RGIII
The controversy began when Griffin posted on X, accusing Reese of harboring hatred toward Clark.
After watching Caitlin Clark’s flagrant foul on Angel Reese and the aftermath, there is no way Angel Reese can continue the lie that she doesn’t dislike Caitlin Clark. I know what hatred looks like. Angel Reese HATES Caitlin Clark. Not some basketball rivalry hate either. Hate.
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII)
“After watching Caitlin Clark’s flagrant foul on Angel Reese and the aftermath, there is no way Angel Reese can continue the lie that she doesn’t dislike Caitlin Clark. I know what hatred looks like. Angel Reese HATES Caitlin Clark. Not some basketball rivalry hate either. Hate.”
The remarks were met with strong backlash, including from Bryant, who immediately criticized Griffin’s approach: “Both girls are good in their own right.. Caitlin Clark is better than Angel Reese, but saying she hates her is wild. They are playing basketball.. bro. It was nothing more or less. You are helping create a negative narrative around Angel Reese..and I don’t respect it, respectfully. You know this is tied into race..and the way you’re playing it is wild. We gotta do better.”
The situation escalated when Griffin later accused ESPN analyst Clark of making personal attacks.
There’s a line you don’t cross in life and Ryan Clark sprinted past it.
Ryan Clark didn’t like my take on Angel Reese hating Caitlin Clark. That’s fine. Disagreement is part of the game. But instead of debating my point, he personally attacked me and my family. That shows how… pic.twitter.com/YDisnkvpMQ
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII)
In a video captioned “There’s a line you don’t cross in life and Ryan Clark sprinted past it,” Griffin stated that Clark dismissed his Blackness, questioned his interracial marriage, and attacked his family over a sports take.
“I gave a sports opinion: I said Angel Reese hates Caitlin Clark, based on repeated, visible actions on the court and in press conferences. I backed it up with five separate examples from the game of basketball because that’s what I do. I analyze sports. I stay in the arena,” Griffin wrote.
He added, “It is wildly inappropriate, wrong and extremely low to weaponize and attack a person’s wife, marriage and their family because you disagree with a sports take.”
Bryant responded directly to this tweet, defending Clark’s comments while rebuking Griffin’s narrative: “Ryan Clark didn’t attack your family all he did was throw back in your face what you were aware of. He’s trying to get you to understand that you did a poor job with journalism.”
Bryant continued, “You really took it outside of sports bro. You pushed a negative narrative that’s been projected on Angel Reese whenever the world learned who she was. The way you expressed hate was outside of the arena, the world shouldn’t have had this uproar because Angel Reese reacted to a foul, I’m just saying…”
As the dust settles, the incident highlights the growing scrutiny around how rivalries in women’s basketball are discussed — and the responsibilities sports commentators carry in shaping those narratives.