Chicago Sky star Angel Reese is talking about her rivalry with Caitlin Clark, indicating that the two’s history goes much further back than their storied matchups between LSU and Iowa.
Reese, who was attending a “Complex Conversations” event, was asked if the rivalry is more real or a media-concocted clash.
“I think it’s just competition, it’s been competition since college,” Reese said during the interview. “Being able to play against Caitlin, I’ve been playing against Caitlin since we were probably in eighth or ninth grade. We both were really competitive in AAU.”
“I went to Maryland, she went to Iowa so we competed there and then finally being able to compete in the national championship. People don’t know the legacy of us being able to play against each other for a really long time.”
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Reese Believes The Rivalry Is Proof She Is Just As Important
Further analyzing the situation, Reese says her rivalry with Clark is of interest because “Obviously, social media is going to put two women against each other.”
Which is weird. Any rivalry in the WNBA will be between two women, just as any NBA rivalry will be between two men. That’s kind of how that whole thing shakes out, Angel. If Reese doesn’t end up keeping up with Clark in the league, which is a very real possibility, then it’ll be a different woman who enters the spotlight.
Anyway, the Sky forward goes on to once again insist that she’s just as crucial as Clark in pushing the WNBA to new heights.
“I think it’s been something that’s negative but also positive,” she said of the Clark-Reese rivalry. “I think it shines light on women’s basketball, so I’ll take that of being able to be the person that gets the hate, but I know that at the end of the day, I’m growing women’s basketball and helping women’s basketball.”
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She’s Said It Before
None of this is really new. Reese has often said she’s an equally important cog in the Clark rivalry.
“I know I’ll go down in history. I’ll look back in 20 years and be like: ‘Yeah, the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball isn’t just because of one person. It’s because of me, too,’” she said back in June.
“And I want you to realize that.”
At the time, Reese was defending her teammate Chennedy Carter for delivering a flagrant foul and dropping Clark to the floor.
Angel Reese says the reason why we're watching women's basketball is not just because of Caitlin Clark.
— TaraBull (@TaraBull808) June 4, 2024
What do you think? pic.twitter.com/iz8gnaDl5X https://t.co/NAfXC7ih9p
Angel also embraced the role of the “good villain” when she was with LSU, so her complaining about being “the person that gets the hate” is just more of the same.
We all remember when Reese was taunting Clark with a ‘you can’t see me’ gesture. As in, ‘Hey Caitlin, you’re not getting a championship ring.’
She didn’t. But what she did get was Rookie of the Year, and she is poised to be a future WNBA league MVP and champion. And if Reese isn’t careful heading into next season, Clark is going to improve by leaps and bounds, and she’ll have a new rivalry involving a better opponent.
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