One bit of drama in the WNBA is that people are always talking about the Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese rivalry. After all, the media tends to thrive on drama. Well, not all media, but there’s a segment of media that reports on drama, because people tend to click on that sort of thing.
There’s been lots of talk about the Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese Rivalry in the WNBA, and Clark is sick of it. Clark recently spoke out about the Angel Reese rivalry. It came right before Clark and Reese’s teams played each other last Sunday (June 23), so that’s why she was getting so many questions about the Angel Reese rivalry.
Caitlin Clark is Tired of the Angel Reese Rivalry
Clark and Reese are both very high profile basketball stars. Also, they both entered the WNBA this year and were favorites in the draft. With all those similarities, the rivalry rumors were bound to come out. Of course, Reese fueled the fire a little bit. She’s said some things about Clark, or at least hinted that she was talking about Clark, that got some rivalry talk going. She’s even taken down tweets that appear to be about Clark. In any case, these two are hot topics in the media, and Clark has had enough.
Heading into the much-anticipated Fever vs. Chicago Sky game last weekend, a reporter asked Clark what she felt about the Angel Reese rivalry talk. She wasn’t too happy to get the question, but it comes with the territory.
“I’m pretty sure the only people that view this as a rivalry is all of you,” she said during a press conference, which was following the Fever’s game on June 21. “Like, to us it’s just a game of basketball.”
The former Iowa star also said that while she’s glad both players have helped grow fans’ interest in the teams, she was surprised that didn’t result in a bigger venue for the Fever vs. Sky game. Some of other Fever games this season have been in larger venues.
“I thought that would have been really good for the game and really good for all the women’s basketball fans in Chicago,” she said. “Maybe there’s a conflict of some sort that I don’t know about. Obviously, that’s a little bit above my pay grade.”
She also said that the “two prior matchups have really lived up to what everybody expected” and gave the fans some awesome basketball to watch.
Clark’s team lost to Reese’s team in Sunday’s game. It was a riveting game, as at one point, the Fever were even ahead by 15 points, but the Sky made a comeback and won. Both Clark and Reese had excellent numbers. Clark ended with 17 points and 13 assists, and Reese picked up 25 points, which was a career high, and 16 rebounds.