Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese delivered a blatant blow to the head of Caitlin Clark as the Indiana Fever star drove to the basket in her team’s 91-83 victory on Sunday.
Clark is now 2-0 in her matchups against Reese since the two entered the NBA. She had a dominant performance in the latest matchup, but most fans were talking about Reese’s flagrant foul and general behavior during and after the game.
On one play late in the third quarter, Clark had a clear opening to the basket when Reese jumped and didn’t really come close to blocking the shot, but decided to follow through regardless.
The blow to the head resulted in a foul call that was upgraded to a flagrant foul 1 after a video review.
Angel Reese takes total swing at Caitlin Clark’s head, gets flagrant foul. They hate Clark because she’s white. Fever have to get an enforcer or Clark’s going to be knocked out for the year on one of these plays: pic.twitter.com/865KEUpLUv
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) June 16, 2024
RELATED: Dedication: Caitlin Clark Seen Working On Jumper Right After Indiana Fever Win
Angel Reese Complains After Getting Tagged With A Flagrant Foul
There really isn’t much to contest in that video. Reese got beat, took a swipe at the ball and came nowhere near it, and followed through on Clark’s head.
Flagrant 1. Easy.
Angel, however, seemingly seeking attention as evidenced by her claims that she’s just as important to the league’s popularity as Clark, couldn’t control herself after the game either. And her comments might just land her a fine for complaining about the officiating.
“I can’t control the refs,” she said. “They affected the game a lot tonight. … I’m always going for the ball. But y’all going to play that clip 20 times before Monday.”
Reese also asserted that the flagrant foul call and others were evidence of favoritism toward Clark.
“I think we went up really strong a lot of times and we didn’t get a lot of calls,” she continued. “And going back and looking at the film, I’ve seen a lot of calls that weren’t made. I guess some people got a special whistle.”
“I guess some people got a special whistle”
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) June 16, 2024
Angel Reese after she almost took Caitlin Clark’s head offpic.twitter.com/fAQMMcFNLB
RELATED: FS1 Host Joy Taylor Takes Fire After Claiming Angel Reese Made Caitlin Clark Relevant
Clark Responds
To her credit, Clark didn’t make a big deal out of the flagrant foul by Angel Reese, suggesting it is merely a part of the game.
“It’s just part of basketball. It is what it is. Trying to make a play on the ball, get the block,” she said. “I mean, it happens.”
Sure it happens, but Reese’s behavior whenever she struggles on the floor is becoming an issue. Even ESPN pointed out that the Sky rookie “was visibly frustrated at times during the game” getting called for five fouls and a delay of game while arguing calls.
The frustration is understandable to a degree. Clark and the Fever, the WNBA’s worst team the past two seasons, own the Sky this season having disposed of them twice now.
In the first competition, Reese’s teammate Chennedy Carter famously hip-checked Clark to the floor away from the ball giving her a free throw that ended up being the deciding factor.
This time Clark dominated the game. She scored 23 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and dished out 9 assists.
Reese, by comparison, came up well short with just 11 points on 4-13 shooting.
The Fever have now won 4 out of their last 6 games to overtake Chicago in the standings. The two teams will meet again on June 23rd in Chicago.
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