Flau’jae Johnson and Angel Reese may or may not be close friends but they were teammates and teammates stand up for one another. The former certainly did so for the latter during the NCAA Tournament.
And now we know why!
Johnson, who joined LSU as a true freshman in the same year that Reese transferred-in from Maryland, won a national title in her first season of college hoops. The Tigers’ championship run coincided with the explosion of the women’s game.
South Carolina lost for the first time in a long time. Caitlin Clark and Hailey Van Lith went to battle in the Elite Eight. Reese famously hit Clark with the “you can’t see me” in the final.
That specific moment created quite the stir, both positive and negative.
On one end, Bayou Barbie’s brand skyrocketed. On the other end, her behavior drew a lot of criticism that stayed with her throughout the rest of her time in Baton Rouge and into today. The haters love to hate Angel Reese. They are quick to scrutinize every single thing that she does.
Johnson, Reese and LSU mostly kept all of their thoughts to themselves this past season. They chose not to keep quiet once their run came to an end with a loss to Iowa in the Elite Eight.
Reese teared up while revealing the death threats she received after being cast as a villain. Johnson also halted the press conference to stand up for her teammate’s character.
There have been rumors that Reese and Johnson may not get along. Especially after some beef between their mothers on social media. Even if the tension is real, it didn’t matter in that moment.
Flau’jae Johnson explained her decision to speak up during an appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show. It stemmed from all of the unkind things that were directed toward Reese online.
People forget social media isn’t real life. Behind the keyboard, behind the clicks and behind all the clickbait, it’s still real people and real feelings and real emotions. I just felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She was carrying it very well but, at the same time, people [are] human.
— Flau’jae Johnson
As Johnson sees it, this is a very exciting time for women’s basketball. She couldn’t allow for the negativity to stand any longer without being checked.
Because of how she is on the court, people have tried to make it like that’s all her but it’s not. I just felt like it was a lot of scrutiny going on and it was getting on my nerves. I hate bad vibes. I love pushing positivity. The fact that she was getting all that hate, I was like, “We supposed to be a good time. We’re birthing WNBA superstars right now. They still figuring it out too.”
— Flau’jae Johnson
Regardless of what other people think of Reese, Johnson had her back. It was a powerful moment that was rooted in love.