Caitlin Clark's Fever teammate Kelsey Mitchell weighs in on fan treatment of Angel Reese

Indiana Fever participant Kelsey Mitchell spoke about the perceived therapy of Chicago Sky star Angel Reese by fans While speaking to reporters at the WNBA All-Star match a reporter urged Mitchell her thoughts on the negativity directed toward Reese as a Black woman I think it's significant to make sure that we keep it less about color and more about just human to human Mitchell answered I think if you just have decency and common decency about what we do as women on the floor you know that Angel Reese is a bad woman on and off the floor And we as women have to represent that CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COMWhen solicited what Mitchell would say to the fans who direct negativity at Reese Mitchell explained God bless you I hope your spirit is in heal a stage to where you don't have to make these comments cuz it's really bashful Um we as women We come on here and we try to compete and connect and use hoop to you know express ourselves Mitchell disclosed Like it's not inevitably going to go our way and the people that bet on us and the people the nasty comments that we get about the people we do and don't play with it's like it's disrespectful to what we trying to do like give us the benefit of the doubt and I hope that people see us as humans Reese is one of the league's more popular and polarizing players and has built a passionate following largely on her ongoing rivalry with phenom Caitlin Clark dating back to their college days Clark's and Reese's rookie season in saw the league break multiple viewership and attendance records particularly due to games featuring Clark and the Indiana Fever Reese was criticized for a gesture at the end of the NCAA women's basketball championship contest where she pointed to her ring finger to taunt Clark after Reese's squad won The moment boosted Reese's community profile and incited polarizing attention with a great number of of Clark fans hurling criticisms at Reese online However one instance of alleged mistreatment of Reese was investigated and not substantiated WNBA ANALYSIS FINDS NO EVIDENCE OF HATEFUL COMMENTS TOWARD ANGEL REESEAfter a informed circumstance of fan harassment against Reese during the Fever and Sky's first competition of the season on May the WNBA launched an inspection into the matter But the league informed days later that the statements of hateful comments were not substantiated We appreciate the swift and thorough process undertaken by the WNBA to investigate these charges which were not substantiated the Fever mentioned in a comment At Gainbridge Fieldhouse we are committed to providing the best realizable basketball experience for players and fans where hate speech has absolutely no place Indiana is home to the world's greatest fans and we look forward to an exciting season of Fever basketball Added the WNBA Based on information gathered to date including from relevant fans crew and arena staff as well as audio and video review of the challenge we have not substantiated the record The WNBA is committed to fostering a safe and inclusive ecosystem for everyone and will continue to be vigilant in enforcing our fan code of conduct U S Sen Jim Banks R-Ind called on the WNBA and the Fever to apologize to Fever fans after that inspection determined no evidence Reese accused the Indiana Fever fan base of being racists They investigated it They reported those accusations were false The least that she could do is apologize to our great state and the fans that show up at these games and say I m sorry I was wrong Obviously she s not going to do that Banks explained Tuesday during an appearance on OutKick s Don t Me with Dan Dakich Those are awful accusations They weren t true The fans weren t shouting racial slurs towards Angel Reese or opposing players I mean where is Caitlin Clark Where is the Indiana Fever Where is the WNBA saying that that scrutiny There shouldn t have been an inquiry The assertions were false Where s the apology It s disappointing It is unclear whether Reese notified the WNBA to prompt the study Sky head coach Tyler Marsh determined out about the reports when everyone else did However Reese has mentioned in the past that Fever and Iowa fans have been racist toward her It s so demeaning to our state and to the fan base to go through something like that The least they can do is apologize to the fans Banks added That s the kind of garbage that gets thrown around all the time Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter