Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy shared his reaction to the recently concluded 2026 WNBA Finals, while addressing the comparisons between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark.
On Monday’s episode of “Wake Up Barstool,” Portnoy claimed that he is a Clark fan and criticized Reese’s performances during the Atlanta Dream’s Finals losses. Atlanta held a 2-1 series lead over the Golden State Valkyries but lost three of the last four games.
“You can sculpt this any way you want,” Portnoy said (Timestamp: 2:32). “In the last three losses that they had, she didn’t show up at all. Not even a little bit. Not even a tiny bit. … She made the Finals, congrats, but she lost them the Finals. There’s absolutely no other way to extrapolate this.
“Good season, but before we start putting her in Caitlin Clark’s category to have three games held under 10 and just be a turnover machine, terrible at the line, there’s no other way to look at it. A total disasterclass from Angel Reese. … You don’t have to be an Angel Reese hater to acknowledge it: She was an absolute disaster in their losses, a total no-show.”
Reese recorded a double-double in each of the first three games of the WNBA Finals, averaging 21.7 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.7 turnovers per game on 56.4% shooting. However, in the last four games, she averaged 9.5 ppg, 12.5 rpg and 4.8 tpg on 26.7% shooting.
Reese scored just eight and seven points in Games 4 and 5, shooting a combined 4-for-20. In Game 6, she had a 15-point, 14-rebound performance as the Dream forced a Game 7. However, she scored just eight points (3-for-7 shooting) in the do-or-die game on Saturday.
Dave Portnoy points to an Angel Reese moment as WNBA Finals’ turning point
In the same episode of “Wake Up Barstool” on Monday, Dave Portnoy said Atlanta Dream star Angel Reese’s antics during Game 3 were the turning point of the 2026 WNBA Finals.
“Angel Reese, she had a very famous moment,” Portnoy said (Timestamp: 1:07:58). “I believe it was Game (3), where she’s saying, ‘You guys are bums, you’re this small, you can’t play with me.’ Just going bananas. … They took the 2-1 lead, and she’s acting like the series is over. Now, she is a very loud talker when things are going well.
“And they had a press conference with Angel Reese after it was 2-1. And they literally asked her, ‘Angel, what’s it feel like to be up there with Hank Aaron?’ … And then the wheels fell off.”
In the Dream’s 97-71 Game 3 win on Oct. 21, Reese finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and two turnovers on 7-for-12 shooting.
Portnoy also praised Golden State Valkyries star Gabby Williams, the 2026 WNBA Finals MVP, describing her performance throughout the series as “spectacular.”
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Edited by Kim Daniel Rubinos
