The 23-year-old forward has also criticized sections of the media, claiming her statements have often been taken out of context and used to drive narratives she does not recognise as accurate. \u201cI\u2019ll take a fine before I have to go media and feel like my back is against the wall,\u201d Reese said. Meanwhile, LeBron James’s high school GPA emerges during NBA Playoffs vs OKC Thunder<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 Dianna Russini’s husband suffers professional setback amid Mike Vrabel scandal<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 LeBron James slammed by biggest supporter after OKC Thunder loss as star ‘stands in corner’<\/a><\/p>\n Rapinoe<\/a> strongly backed Reese\u2019s approach to handling the media during an episode of her podcast \u201cA Touch More\u201d on Thursday, describing it as \u201ca really great example of her taking her power back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAngel was set up as a villain before she was even in the WNBA<\/a>, and now she\u2019s making it clear that she\u2019s gonna protect her peace,\u201d she said. \u201cThe media landscape is changing rapidly in women\u2019s sports, and of course, the W, as always, is out front.<\/p>\n \u201cAngel isn\u2019t saying that she\u2019s never gonna do media, but she is saying that she won\u2019t just stand up and take anything that\u2019s thrown at her.\u201d<\/p>\n While athletes are typically required to fulfil regular media obligations throughout the WNBA season, Rapinoe argued that players in the league should rethink the current standards around sports media access, suggesting there is room for a more player-driven approach to press engagement.<\/p>\n Megan Rapinoe has defended Angel Reese -Credit:Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s really about like a new level of respect across the board. There needs to be a quality of journalism that is at the level of these athletes,\u201d Rapinoe said. The 40-year-old added that Reese\u2019s comments serve as a strong example for athletes more broadly, arguing they highlight the need to challenge existing media expectations and push for fairer standards.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like this was obviously something Angel is doing for herself because of her personal experience, but I think this is a great example for all athletes and all female athletes of, \u2018I don\u2019t really have to do this,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIt might mean I get a fine, but at some point, we have to adjust the expectations that journalists can just go up there and throw any kind of narrative. And we\u2019re the ones, athletes are the ones who are going to either field that or dispel that or say it\u2019s not true or try and combat it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Justin Thomas can’t control his anger and produces expletive blast at Truist Championship<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 Rory McIlroy can’t help but chuckle after ‘expensive’ LIV Golf stars lose Saudi funding<\/a><\/p>\n Not everyone agrees with Rapinoe\u2019s stance, with critics arguing that postgame interviews are a core part of being a professional athlete rather than optional extras. Media availability is seen as a key way for players to engage fans and build their personal brands, and for a growing league, limiting press access could be viewed as counterproductive to expanding its audience.<\/p>\n Reese, who was selected by the Chicago Sky <\/a>in the first round of the 2024 WNBA Draft, was traded to the Atlanta Dream<\/a> in April after reportedly signalling she wanted a change following Chicago\u2019s 10\u201334 campaign last season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Megan Rapinoe has voiced support for Angel Reese after the WNBA star revealed she is willing to avoid…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":784456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[49],"tags":[1496,3363,93963,32691,62,67,132,68,232,145877],"class_list":["post-784455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-angel-reese","tag-lebron-james","tag-megan-rapinoe","tag-okc-thunder","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wnba","tag-wnba-season"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116545192372575319","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Megan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/aol_the_mirror_191\/7a471c2560df08572e0e002ede3651ae.jpeg\"\/)
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