On June 4, 2024, Chicago Sky superstar Angel Reese received the first ejection of her WNBA career during a game against the eventual 2024 WNBA Champions New York Liberty.
The ejection occurred after Reese was arguing with a referee over a foul call. She already recorded one technical foul earlier in the game and then received a second (which makes for an automatic ejection) after continuing to express frustration.
The WNBA automatically fines players $200 for each technical foul they accrue, and the fine amounts build in tandem with how many technicals a player amasses in a season.
Since these were the first two technical fouls Reese received in the season, she was supposed to pay $400. But the first technical was ultimately rescinded, so she only ended up owing $200.
But it would appear that Reese wouldn’t have to pay a dime, as Chicago Bulls star Lonzo Ball posted on X, “Ref that threw out @Reese10Angel is weak btw… You know who you are (Keep ya money Angel I got you)” right after her ejection happened.
Reese responded to the post after the game by writing, “💞😭 appreciate you gang!”
Lonzo and his brother LiAngelo were guests on the most recent episode of the “Unapologetically Angel” podcast. And when the fine came up, Reese shared more details about the transaction.
When Reese was asking the Ball brothers questions fans had written them, she asked Lonzo, “Did you pay my fine?”
“I did,” Lonzo responded.
“Do you know the story behind it?” Reese said. “So you gave me $2,000. Do you know how much my fine actually was? It was only $200.”
Ball (who was attending the Sky game Reese was ejected at) then revealed that he didn’t know how much the fine was, but gave the $2,000 to Reese’s former head coach Teresa Weatherspoon — who was Ball’s assistant coach for a time while he was with the New Orleans Pelicans — to give to Reese.
Then Reese revealed she received the entire $2,000 in cash from Weatherspoon soon after.
Much respect to Ball for putting his money where his mouth is.