Angel Reese opens up on singing Black National Anthem while Fever fans booed her

Atlanta Dream star Angel Reese was seen singing the Black National Anthem "Lift Every Voice and Sing" at the home of Caitlin Clark and Indiana Fever earlier on Thursday, just ahead of Juneteenth.

Reese addressed the singing after her team beat the Fever for the second straight game on Saturday, referencing how the Fever fans booed her in Indiana two days earlier.

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"It was just one in the moment of where I was, and how it felt, and how it hit, and the things that I've had to experience the last couple years, and they haven't always been great," Reese told reporters Saturday.

"It's not supposed to be easy, but I am very, very grateful for this opportunity to be a Black woman, it's a privilege... being where I was, hearing the loud boos when I was in the arena, and then when I heard 'Lift Every Voice,' it just made me feel like, this is for the ones that walked for me."

Reese also answered a question about representing "Black culture" in Atlanta.

"Those young girls, those young boys out there, when they see a Black girl being able to run up and down the court and just have this life and have this experience, I think it's really important. Representation is important, for me to use my voice, for me to use my platform, I'll never stay silent for things I believe in," Reese said.

"Lift Every Voice and Sing" is often referred to as the Black National Anthem. The NAACP says the hymn began as a poem written in 1900 by James Weldon Johnson, with music composed by his brother, John Rosamond Johnson. A choir of 500 schoolchildren first performed it publicly in Jacksonville, Florida, for a celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

The song has also been part of WNBA Juneteenth programming in recent years. The NBA said in 2021 that WNBA teams would play "Lift Every Voice and Sing" in arenas during Juneteenth celebrations, alongside other league social justice initiatives.

Reese has previously accused Clark's fans of "racism" during the first episode of Reese's podcast in September 2024.

"I think it's really just the fans, her fans, the Iowa fans, now the Indiana fans, that are really just, they ride for her, and I respect that, respectfully. But sometimes it's very disrespectful. I think there's a lot of racism when it comes to it," Reese said.

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"Multiple occasions, people have made AI-images of me naked. They have sent it to my family members. My family members are like uncles, sending it to me like, ‘Are you naked on Instagram?'"

In May of last year, after the Fever and Reese's old team, the Chicago Sky, faced off in the first game of the season in Indiana, the WNBA launched a probe into alleged racist behavior by Fever fans, but the league found no evidence. Still, Reese seemed to acknowledge the allegations anyway after the game.

"Obviously, there's no place in this league for that," Reese said at that time. "I think the WNBA and our team and our organization has done a great job supporting me. ... Going through this whole process, if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone."

Now, Reese's latest comments come during a high-profile week for Reese, Clark and the WNBA, as two of the league’s most-watched players met twice in three days.

Atlanta defeated Indiana 108-101 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Thursday, with Reese posting 21 points and 11 rebounds and Clark scoring 26 points in the loss. The Dream followed with a 113-96 win over the Fever at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Saturday, a game in which Clark again led Indiana with 26 points.

Saturday’s win also gave Reese a league milestone. The 6-foot-4 forward became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 1,000 career rebounds, doing so in her 79th game, 10 games faster than Tina Charles. Reese finished the game with 18 points and eight rebounds as Atlanta improved to 11-4 and Indiana dropped to 9-7.

The Dream acquired Reese from the Chicago Sky in April in exchange for Atlanta’s first-round picks in 2027 and 2028. The trade brought the two-time WNBA All-Star and 2023 national champion to an Atlanta team coming off what the franchise called a historic 2025 season.

Reese and Clark have been linked since their college careers, most notably after LSU defeated Iowa 102-85 in the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball championship game. That matchup drew 9.9 million viewers, then the most-watched women’s college basketball game on record.