Warriors fan favorite Festus Ezeli got the last laugh against Dream forward Angel Reese during the Valkyries’ WNBA championship parade Wednesday.
Ezeli, who spent four seasons with the Warriors and won a championship in 2015, was seen on one of the Valkyries parade floats holding up a shirt depicting Reese doing the “too small” gesture from Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.
The shirt replaced Reese’s face with the crying Michael Jordan meme.
Ezeli still kept his ties to the Bay Area strong after his playing career, getting into broadcasting as an NBC Sports Bay Area analyst.
He has also been seen on occasion speaking with Valkyries guard Kate Martin.
In that Game 3 Reese directed the taunt toward the Valkyries’ bench, specifically Golden State center Aminata Gueye; she also seemingly called Gueye a “bum” after the 97-71 blowout win that gave Atlanta an 2-1 series lead.
Ten days later, the Valkyries won the championship on their home floor at the Chase Center.
Ezeli isn’t the only NBA player who made their voice heard toward the WNBA All-Star, as Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg clapped back at Reese right after Game 7 in Chase Center, doing a similar gesture.
The Valkyries defeated the Dream in seven games behind forward Gabby Williams, whose 30-point performance in Game 7 put the finishing touches on Golden State’s first WNBA title.
Williams also averaged 19 points per game on 32 percent shooting in the series.
Reese, who came to Atlanta through a blockbuster trade from Chicago, put it all on the line for the Dream by averaging 14 points and 12 rebounds on 40 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3 throughout the Finals.
She also led the Dream in rebounding and was third in scoring.
The Valkyries’ WNBA title in their second season is the fastest expansion-team title in league history, beating the Storm’s fifth-year championship turnaround in 2004.
Sending shots at the “Atlanta Barbie” was the icing on the cake on a historic WNBA season.
