"She getting Tyrese Haliburton mop up duty treatment?" - Basketball fans fume over Kahleah Copper's romp vs Nigeria

Kahleah Copper rubbed a lot of people the wrong way with her behavior against Nigeria. As Team USA dominated the African team in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympic basketball tournament, the Phoenix Mercury star dribbled out the shot clock before giving the ball to the referees.

Ezinne Kalu, one of Nigeria's best scorers (16 points), took the ball and started running to the basket. She got two more points with an uncontested layup. But when the ball found Copper again, she instantly threw it at Kalu, getting a technical foul.

This behavior didn't sit well with plenty of fans. They flooded social media with negative comments about Copper's behavior against one of her colleagues.

"Kahleah Copper mad she getting Tyrese Haliburton mop up duty treatment??? It ain’t that deep man lmao," one fan said.

Others criticized the WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year candidate for thinking she was playing in the domestic league and wanted everybody to play the same way.

"Copper can’t read a room… this AINT the W… the Nigerians were happy to just be on the same court as USA, peep the cheers even being down 100… I just want them to keep the same energy with white players… Cause I don’t see it," another fan said.

More fans said this was unnecessary from Copper.

"Kahleah Copper needs to check herself," one fan wrote.

"It wasn’t necessary on copper’s side," another fan said.

Other fans noted that when Sabrina Ionescu did something similar, nobody said anything and the dribble-out rule only applies to American leagues.

How did Kahleah Copper fare against Nigeria?

Kahleah Copper didn't have the best game against Nigeria, as she only played 11:16 minutes. Copper scored five points and grabbed three rebounds, shooting 33.3% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc. She hasn't seen much action during this tournament, averaging 10.2 minutes per outing and 6.0 points per game.

Despite being one of the hottest players in the WNBA before the Olympic break, Copper hasn't had the same consideration as other stars such as A'ja Wilson or Breanna Stewart.

Team USA will face Australia in the tournament's semifinals next Friday.