Barstool CEO Dave Portnoy joined Shannon Sharpe’s “Uncle Shay Shay” podcast – which is still going strong despite a $50M civil suit surrounding his sexual practices with a 20-year-old OnlyFans model – to clear the air on a few topics.
Portnoy and his media empire were one of the main culprits in bashing Angel Reese every chance it got and blaming her for the infamous Tony Yayo inspired “You Can’t See Me” gesture during the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship game between LSU and Iowa, that sparked this current women’s basketball revolution, with Team Clark and Team Reese at the center of it.
Dave Portnoy’s Hate For Angel Race Started During 2023 NCAA Title Game
With the victory against Iowa in the NCAA championship game secured except for the final horn, Angel Reese did the ‘you can’t see me’ celebration, covering her face with her hand as she got into Caitlin Clark’s face, and pointing with one hand to her ring finger on the other. While reminiscent of the celebration that WWE wrestler John Cena had made iconic, it was rapper Tony Yayo who applauded Reese for using it, the same move that he had done in his song “So Seductive”.
“I thought what Angel Reese did at the game was classless,” Portnoy told Sharpe. “Nothing to do with the color of her skin. I tweeted that and it became a race. Nothing to do with that…”
On the other hand, after seeing Reese perform that taunt/celebration on television, Tony Yayo had to give her a shout-out and also note the disparity between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and how the media wanted to paint Reese in a bad light for trash-talking while applauding and approving Clark doing the same thing.
“I think it’s kinda crazy because Angel Reese do it, it’s a problem, and then when Caitlin Clark did it, it wasn’t a problem,” Tony Yayo told TMZ.
TMZ quoted the rapper as saying:
“Any kind of sports, talking trash is a part of the game,” Yayo shared. “I mean, it was for the championship game. It’s competition. Even when I’m playing 2K — if you playin’ in the game, with video games, we get excited. You know?”
Barstool’s Dave Portnoy Isn’t Worried about Being Cancelled
Portnoy is an unapologetic member of Team Clark and attempted to explain where the Anti-Angel Reese campaign with heavy racial undertones actually came from.
“Why don’t you think you can be cancelled? Sharpe asked. “You’ve said some pretty outlandish things.”
“If you give people an inch, they’ll take a mile,” Portnoy responded. “You can’t apologize for things you don’t think you’ve really said bad things about which I haven’t really done. I stand by almost everything I’ve said. I think some things may have been out of context or misconstrued. But if you have a fan base that truly knows you and mine, they’ve been following for 20 years. They’ll have your back. Provided I don’t think we’ve ever done anything out of hate out of misery out of anything.
Sharpe interjected, “You don’t feel that you’ve done anything maliciously?
“I know I haven’t done anything maliciously,” Portnoy said. “Again, Perfect example and I know you are a Caitlin Clark fan… I live for Caitlin Clark.”
Dave Portnoy Wants Credit For Igniting The Race Aspect Of Angel Reese vs Caitlin Clark
Portnoy continued: “I ignited to a degree, the race aspect of Angel Reese vs. Caitlin. I will go to my grave. There was no race in it. I watched the National Championship. I bet on Iowa. I’m a Caitlin Clark fan. And I think the way they (media) acted for a long time where Caitlin didn’t say a word and she’s taking bullets, coming at her…
That’s not a race issue to me. For whatever reason, with me…But there’s pressure outside. I will go to my grave. I’m never going to apologize for that because it wasn’t malicious. I stand by it and, the biggest enemies I’ve got are white…Roger Goodell, Peyton Manning”
Barstool Owner Dave Portnoy Hates Angel Reese and Lebron James For The Same Reason
“I F’n hate Lebron because the Celtics and Lebron were a heated rivalry. Who hated LeBron more than I did? KG, Rondo. Yeah, I hated his guts, that’s a rivalry thing,” Portnoy explains, drawing parallels to why he doesn’t like Reese and why it’s strictly rivalry-based, not race.
Portnoy continues: “If I still show a video of Angel Reese airballing a layup, people will be like that’s because he’s racist. No, it’s because I love Caitlin and I don’t like her, and they’re rivals and that’s sports.”
Portnoy is taking full credit for starting the CC vs. Angel Reese race wars that have infested social media and have become larger narratives than the overall rise of the sport itself. He has 6M Instagram followers who love what his empire offers to the sports landscape and he’s a safe space for the diabolical, often illogical and vicious old school fan rivalries that have been deemed politically incorrect behavior in some spaces.
Dave Portnoy Thinks Angel Reese Is Not In Caitlin Clark’s Class As Player
Portnoy has been criticized for the way he bombs on Reese every chance he gets, dating back to September 2, 2024, when he dropped his classic six-minute rant on why he believes Caitlin Clark is much better than Reese. During the video which has 1.3M views on X, Portnoy discredits the opinions of athletes like Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes. He captioned it, “The media needs to stop comparing Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. It’s unfair and cruel.”
The 48-year-old business mogul insisted he “had to do something,” after reading Leslie’s tweet saying, “both players deserve the Rookie of the Year Award.”
Portnoy Will Turn Up His Hate For Reese and Love For Clark This Season
The rebel often wins, and Portnoy has fed this growing Caitlin Clark beast and helped increase her fanbase through his attacks on Angel Reese’s game and name. Reese will have the spotlight on her this season, and she has Caitlin Clark, Barstool and this insane infatuation with the Indiana Fever sharp-shooter, who reportedly sold more jerseys than any NBA player except Steph Curry for a span in 2024, to thank for that shine.
RELATED: ‘I Want To See The Numbers’: Caitlin Clark Sold More Jerseys Than LeBron, Luka and Michael Jordan
Reese and Clark both have new-look squads with more established veterans and high goals. We will get a chance to see these two old adversaries clash on May 17, when the Fever sets off its season at home, hosting the Chicago Sky. That game is going to be a media bonanza, and Portnoy is sure to be right in the middle of it stirring the pot and repping for CC with no apologies.
