Photo of Taylor Rooks smiling and photo of Emmanuel Acho in red jacket
Taylor Rooks came for Emmanuel Acho on Wednesday following a controversial take he made regarding Angel Reese the previous day.

Acho offered an opinion on Reese’s recent interview in which she detailed all of the hateful treatment she’s gotten over the past year and made it clear that he does not feel sorry for her.

The former NFL linebacker suggested that the LSU star should suck up all what she’s been hit with because she wants to act grown, get paid like she’s grown, and talk to grown folks like she’s grown.

“Because if you want to act grown, which she has; if you wanted to get paid like you’re grown, which she has; if you wanted to talk to grown folks like you grown, which you told a coach from an opposing team, ‘Watch your mouth.’ If you want to tell people get your money up, then post-game, when you take an L, you just gotta take it on the chin,” he said on FS1’s ‘Speak‘.

“Nobody mourns when the villain catches an L. And Angel Reese, you have self-proclaimed to be the villain.”

Acho let Reese know she put a target on her own back when she claimed to be the villain and therefore should not be surprised if people want to take shots at her.

“Because what frustrated me is you want to be the villain, but you want to hope for sympathy like a hero,” he added.

Reese did declare herself a villain, but she meant it in reference to basketball, not life. The 21-year-old also hasn’t asked anyone to feel sorry for her based on what’s happened on the court; what she did was complain about being a victim of racism, death threats, and people making lewd AI photos of her, among other things.

Taylor Rooks Defends Angel Reese

Taylor Rooks has taken to X/Twitter to respond to Acho in a post spanning more than 400 words.

“Your response here is actually full of opinions that indirectly (and directly) involve both race and gender,” she wrote. “It’s just coded to unsuccessfully soften the blow.”

You can check her full response out here:

Meanwhile, Reese has announced her intention to enter the WNBA Draft this year, insisting she’s ready for the pros as she’s achieved everything she set out to in college.