Angel Reese has found herself in hot water again, and this time it’s not because of a hard foul or a viral quote. It’s because she added a championship to her resume that she didn’t even bother to show up for.

Jason Whitlock, known for pulling no punches, has now joined the growing chorus of critics who are calling out the massive disconnect between the media narrative surrounding Reese and her actual on-court contributions.

The moment her team in the Unrivaled league won the title, social media lit up celebrating her like she just dropped a 40-point triple double. But there was just one problem. She wasn’t there.

Not only did Angel Reese not play in the championship game, but she didn’t even attend it. While her team battled on the court to secure the Unrivaled league’s inaugural title, Reese was spotted courtside at a high school basketball game.

She later FaceTimed into the celebration like she had earned the trophy. It was a surreal scene, and one that perfectly illustrates the divide between substance and spin that has followed her since her LSU days.

To be clear, the Unrivaled league was never intended to be a high-stakes professional league. It’s a 3-on-3 exhibition-style league with a short schedule and minimal national traction. It featured a handful of WNBA players and some recognizable names, but it was never billed as a competitive equivalent to the WNBA.

Still, ESPN and other outlets tried to paint this championship as something historic. And Reese, ever the media-savvy personality, played right along, even firing off cryptic tweets like what y’all gonna say now. But critics weren’t buying it. Not this time.

Jason Whitlock made the strongest point of all. If this championship really mattered to Reese, she would have been there. Instead, she prioritized her personal life and chose to sit out the playoffs entirely.

No practicing with her teammates. No supporting them from the bench. Just a FaceTime call and a carefully curated social media presence. Imagine if Caitlin Clark skipped a championship game and still received glowing coverage. There would be outrage. But when it’s Reese, different standards seem to apply.

What’s more troubling is how this narrative is being pushed as if Reese is on par with Clark, Wilson, or Stewart. The media has been working overtime trying to package her as the next face of women’s basketball.

But the truth is, her numbers don’t back that up. In her rookie season, she led the WNBA in rebounds, yes, but also in personal fouls. Her points per game were solid but not elite.

Her jump shot is still a work in progress, and her turnovers remain a glaring issue. And yet, every time she makes a TikTok or gives an interview, it becomes a media event.

Contrast that with Caitlin Clark, who is dissected and scrutinized after every performance. Every turnover, every missed shot, every defensive lapse is picked apart. She’s held to the highest standard, and still, she shows up. Clark doesn’t miss games. She doesn’t skip championships. She doesn’t FaceTime her way into relevance. She earns it.

That’s what makes this whole situation with Reese so frustrating to watch. The Unrivaled league title is being treated like a legitimate championship when in reality, it was more of a glorified scrimmage.

Most of the WNBA’s top players didn’t even participate. A’ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, Kelsey Plum, and Caitlin Clark were all nowhere to be found. This wasn’t a clash of titans. It was a side project during the off-season. And Reese, even within that context, couldn’t commit to finishing the job.

And yet here we are, with her team winning a low-stakes title, and Reese being celebrated as if she had carried them there. It’s part of a larger issue that plagues women’s sports coverage.

There is often a rush to manufacture stars instead of letting performance create them. With Reese, the hype came early and often. Her popularity from college translated into endorsement deals and NIL riches, and her brand became larger than her game.

That’s not necessarily a problem in today’s media-driven sports landscape. But eventually, the basketball has to match the brand. And right now, it doesn’t.

What’s even more awkward is how well her team played without her. Chelsea Gray stepped up and led the Rose squad to the title with a dominant performance in the final.

Many fans even remarked that the team looked more in sync and fluid in Reese’s absence. That’s not to suggest she was holding them back, but it’s hard to ignore that her presence wasn’t missed when it mattered most.

The reaction from fans has been split. Some continue to defend her, celebrating her charisma and off-court impact. Others are growing tired of the narrative gymnastics being done to keep her name in the headlines.

One viral tweet summed it up perfectly: Angel Reese is being celebrated for a championship she didn’t play in, while Caitlin Clark gets criticized for scoring 25 in a loss. The double standard is undeniable.

At the end of the day, this isn’t about tearing Reese down. It’s about accountability. It’s about recognizing that being a champion means more than posting about it on Instagram.

It means showing up. Competing. Leading. If Reese wants to be remembered among the greats, she needs to start acting like one. That means putting the work in on the court and letting her game do the talking.

As it stands now, the media machine continues to spin. Reese is still being propped up as the next big thing, even as her performance lags behind the league’s elite. But the cracks are starting to show. Fans are smarter than they’re given credit for, and they know the difference between hype and impact.

If Angel Reese truly wants to leave a legacy in the WNBA, the time has come to do more than tweet about it. She needs to grind, lead, and most importantly, play. Because FaceTiming into a championship celebration might work for a moment, but history remembers the players who were actually on the floor.