Caitlin Clark And Angel Reese’s ‘You Can’t See Me’ Taunts Are A Reminder That Tony Yayo Is Behind This

Angel Reese notched her 34th double-double in the NCAA Division I national championship game — the most in one season in Division I history — and boosted the LSU Tigers to an historic 102-85 win over Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The Tigers’ 102 points are the most-ever in an NCAA women’s title game, and the result was the first-ever national championship for LSU in men’s or women’s basketball. So, yeah, Reese (the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, by the way) was rightfully feeling herself.

People are mad — and telling on themselves in their racist and sexist outrage.

The backstory: Clark hit the “you can’t see me” during Iowa’s 97-83 Elite Eight trouncing of Louisville. She put up a triple-double with 41 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. Mostly everybody loved her confidence. But when Reese served Clark the “you can’t see me” as time was expiring in the national championship, Reese was ridiculed for being too cocky or whatever.

“Caitlin Clark is a hell of a player, for sure, but I don’t take disrespect lightly,” Reese said on ESPN afterward.

The backstory to the backstory: The one thing everybody seemed to agree on was crediting John Cena with inventing the “you can’t see me,” and Cena chimed in after Clark’s celebration in the Elite Eight. But it turns out the discourse over its usage was just as misguided as the understanding of its origin. Before Cena popularized the catchphrase and hand gesture in WWE, there was G-Unit’s Tony Yayo in the “So Seductive” video featuring 50 Cent. (For what it’s worth, Cena has credited Yayo in the past.)

Look no further than the 32-second mark:

“LISTEN JOHN CENA DID NOT INVENT THE ‘YOU CAN’T SEE ME,’” The Kid Mero tweeted. “TONY YAYO DID AND IDK WHY HES NOT MORE VOCAL ABOUT IT.”

Another tweeter noted, “At the end of the day, Tony Yayo is the cause of all of this LMAO.”

As for Clark and Reese, Clark wasn’t bothered by Reese’s excellent taunt, and Reese used the moment to speak on the purpose behind her unabashed authenticity.

“All year, I was critiqued about who I was,” Reese said during her postgame presser. “I don’t fit the narrative. I don’t fit in the box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. Y’all told me that all year. But when other people do it, y’all don’t say nothing. So this was for the girls who look like me, that’s gonna speak up on what they believe in. It’s unapologetically you, and that’s who I did it for tonight.”

She continued, “It was bigger than me tonight. It was bigger than me. Twitter is gonna go on a rage every time, and I mean, I’m happy. I feel like I helped grow women’s basketball this year. I’m super happy and excited, so I’m looking forward to celebrating and then next season.”

In other words, you will see Angel Reese.