Players at Nike Hoop Summit defend Angel Reese's trash talk: 'People better get used to it'

PORTLAND, Ore. — What’s the big deal with trash talk? 

That was the attitude this week at the Nike Hoop Summit, where the nation’s top seniors are gathered to play in a showcase event Saturday at the Moda Center.

Players, both boys and girls, rolled their eyes at the brouhaha that exploded in the wake of Angel Reese’s trash talk toward Caitlin Clark at the end of LSU’s 102-85 win over Iowa in the women’s national championship Sunday.

"We’re playing a sport!" said Jared McCain, a 6-foot-3 guard from Corona, California, headed to Duke. "It’s competitive, the goal is to win, you’ll do anything to get an edge. It happens at every level."

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Isaiah Collier, the top-ranked player in the 2023 class, learned in the fourth grade, via his cousins, that trash talk was essential. He had to learn how to deal with it, and give it right back.

'It’s different now. Girls are gonna trash talk'

After Reese was caught on camera taunting Clark, America’s newest sweetheart – with the same move Clark had done in earlier games – social media blew up with criticism toward the LSU All-American forward.

There’s no denying the racial and gender undercurrents in the criticism of Reese, a Black woman from Baltimore. Clark is an elite trash-talker herself, and was celebrated after doing the John Cena "can’t see me" move during Iowa’s Elite Eight win over Louisville. She was also caught on camera telling Louisville’s Hailey Van Lith – another player who tends to run her mouth – "you’re down 15 points, shut up."

Reese was unapologetic after the title game, telling reporters, "I don't fit in a box that y'all want me to be in. I'm too hood. I'm too ghetto. Y'all told me that all year. But when other people do it, y'all say nothing. So this was for the girls that look like me."

Clark defended Reese, too, saying "I don’t think Angel should be criticized at all. We’re all competitive. Men have always had trash talk … You should be able to play with that emotion. That’s how every girl should play."

The consensus among players at the Hoop Summit: Trash talk is part of the game, and athletes understand that. People who have an issue with it might need to find a new sport.

"Women’s basketball, we’re transforming," said Hannah Hidalgo, a 5-foot-7 guard who’s committed to Notre Dame. "It’s different now. Girls are gonna trash talk, be aggressive, girls are dunking. People better get used to it."

Breaking down elite trash-talkers

So what makes a great trash-talker? It depends who you ask.

Ron Holland, the No. 6 player in the 2023 class (per 247 Sports) who’s signed with Texas, said it’s all about timing. Anyone can tell you about their play after the fact. But only the elite catch the ball, tell you what they’re about to do, then follow through.

In Justin Edwards’ hometown of Philadelphia, trash talk is a necessity on the playground. He thinks the best talkers mix action with chatter — pulling on opponent’s shorts and shoestrings at the free throw line, bumping them when the officials aren’t looking and generally trying to drive them crazy to the point where they can’t focus.

"Of course it’s fun, it gets the inner dog out of you, makes you want to compete more," said Edwards, who’s headed to Kentucky. "Especially if somebody’s talking trash and they’re cooking you, it’s gonna make you want to step up your game."

("Justin's a goofy dude. If he tried to talk trash, you'd just laugh at him," Bronny James, who supposedly adheres to the belief that one should only talk if the opponent starts the conversation, said.)

Collier, who’s headed to USC, makes sure to study opponent’s previous outings. If they struggled with something last game, he’s likely to remind them of it.

Creativity counts, too.

"You can’t be lame," said Mikaylah Williams, a 6-foot-1 forward who’s signed with reigning national champion LSU. "I don’t want to hear any of this ‘And one!’ Everybody says that. Be better."

McCain is always surprised – and a little alarmed – when opponents go down a social media rabbit hole hoping to personalize their comments.

"People get really in-depth, especially during school season," McCain said. "Once someone said something about my girlfriend’s sister – now that’s a lot."

No better trash-talker in women's game than Angel Reese – for now

Holland, his Hoop Summit teammates agreed, is the top trash-talker on Team USA, a label he wears proudly. But in Texas, Holland’s home state, the “proper way” to describe what he does, he said, is to refer to it as “talkin’ mess.”

Of course, Hoop Summit players aspire to play in the NBA someday. And when it comes to the pros, everyone is looking up to Patrick Beverley of the Chicago Bulls.

"He’s gonna keep going with it, and he’s not gonna stop until he gets his point across," Holland said.

Golden State’s Draymond Green also got a few shoutouts. "I hear him on my TV more than anyone," Collier said.

McCain appreciates the full-court press approach: “The entire Memphis Grizzlies team, all of them talk. That’s memorable.”

As for who’s the best on the women’s side, it’s tough to name someone better than Reese right now, partially because she doesn’t care about the outrage that could follow.

"Women are supposed to be quiet, off to the side, and Angel is not like that," said Williams, the LSU signee. "I’m so glad she’s growing the game for people like me, and that I get to be in that atmosphere next. I’m grateful to her. Because she does it now, it won’t be abnormal when I do it or my teammates do it. It lets us be unapologetically ourselves."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Angel Reese trash talk supported by players at Nike Hoop Summit