Angel Reese Can’t Escape Viral 8-Second Blunder Amid Her Cold Shoulder to Ex-Fox Broadcaster’s $100K Dare

Ridicule and trolling have been the norm for Angel Reese this season. A quick scroll through any social media platform with her name will show fans clowning her for one specific aspect of her game: her ability to finish layups. It’s become a running joke online, and it’s not new. Fans were trolling her for the same thing last season, too.

One Twitter account made a compilation of her missing layups in August last year that received 18k likes. The compilation for the 2025 season had an addition in the game against the New York Liberty in which she missed four consecutive layups as she caught her own shot every time.  Reese missed the shots from right underneath the basket, two of which were blocked. Reese finally kicked out a pass to Kia Nurse, but she missed the three-pointer, and it was a rebound Reese was unable to get. She failed to make even a single shot from the field in that game, with her final stat line reading 0-for-8 on field goals, 2-for-6 from the free-throw line, a -25 in plus-minus, five turnovers, and only two points.

This has drawn extreme reactions from fans, especially after the flagrant foul controversy in the first game. Former Fox Sports pundit and Outkick Founder Clay Travis went as far as challenging the WNBA player for a 1-on-1 game, saying in his podcast, “Angel Reese’s rebounds are almost all just her own misses. She cannot shoot. Which is why,… and maybe I’m wrong about this…, I.. and I don’t think there’s been a response yet, has there Adam? I publicly challenged Angel Reese to a, uh… to a, uh… one-on-one game to 15. One-point baskets, two-point baskets half court, gotta go back to the three-point line. A $100,000 from me if Angel Reese can beat me head-to-head.”

You know it’s bad when a 46-year-old thinks he can beat a WNBA player in her prime at a 1v1. To add to that. Reese is taller than Travis. He even put out the challenge on twitter. “Hey @Reese10Angel me vs you half court to 15 by 1’s and 2’s. $100k to the winner, more than you make in an entire WNBA season. Rebounds taken back to three point line. We put the game on pay per view and raise millions for charity of winner’s choice. You in?”

Clay proposed a televised pay-per-view match with $100,000 at stake, which was intended to raise millions for charity. 

Reese’s reaction only fueled the fire. After blocking Clay Travis on Twitter, the trolling intensified, with fans calling her out for dodging the noise instead of leaning into it. The backlash was swift, and some were genuinely disappointed by what they saw as a missed moment. The hype had escalated so much that even Donald Trump Jr. chimed in, saying, “I really wanted to see this matchup and I don’t even watch basketball.”

This isn’t the first time Travis has stirred controversy with a bold, gender-based sports challenge. Earlier this year, he made headlines by offering a staggering $1 million to the Las Vegas Aces, the reigning WNBA champions, to face off against a boys’ high school basketball team. His claim was that the boys would win. The proposal sparked widespread backlash, with many calling it disrespectful and dismissive of the talent and dedication of professional women athletes.

Is Angel Reese holding Chicago Sky back?

It is safe to say, in public opinion, Angel Reese is at her lowest currently. She rode the last season on her rebounding ability, which compensated for her scoring woes. She shot 0.391 from the field in 2024 but it was more about how she missed the shots. Reese’s layup efficiency—44.5% at the rim last season — ranked at the bottom of the league. The layup is one of the first things you learn in basketball and it’s a fundamental flaw that Reese seems to have.

Commentators frequently highlight concerns with her shot mechanics, noting a lower release point, inconsistent follow-through, and limited wrist action—all of which can hinder shooting efficiency. Improving her footwork, balance, and elevation will be key to creating better scoring opportunities and achieving more consistent, clean finishes at the rim.

She has been working on her shooting ability in the off-season but that has not translated into games so far. Coach Marsh analyzed her failure in the Liberty game with just one statement. 

“Some of (her shots) were rushed,” Marsh said via Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times. “That was really it. Angel knows that we have confidence in her. . . . We have constant belief in all our players to make those. It’s not going to be often that we have a ton of misses like this.”

Marsh wants to play a faster brand of basketball, which requires Reese to work on both ends of the court and catch long passes. Her responsibility is to protect the rim and finish her rebounds. At the moment she is not finishing rebounds. They stand as one of the worst teams in the league in 3pt% so Reese’s role to finish those chances becomes more important. Sky needs her to succeed.

Sky can’t afford to give up on Reese, as they have already pegged her to be the next big thing of the franchise. On the positive side for her, just two games have passed and she has plenty of time to make a comeback and the trolling from the fans is nothing to worry about as they sway with the wind. One or two good performances and they will be backing her once again.  Her mental strength is being tested to the limit. Shooting has been her flaw and it will take some time to improve that. As long as the graph goes up, she will be happy with herself and just focus on her game rather than unnecessary gimmicks and controversies. 

The post Angel Reese Can’t Escape Viral 8-Second Blunder Amid Her Cold Shoulder to Ex-Fox Broadcaster’s $100K Dare appeared first on EssentiallySports.