The WNBA’s main storyline for most of the 2024 season was the budding rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
Both players were selected in the first round of the draft – Clark to the Indiana Fever and Reese to the Chicago Sky. Both players vied for the 2024 WNBA Rooke of the Year Award. Ultimately, Clark helped the Fever to the playoffs and a 20-win season, which gave her a better case for the award while Reese suffered a season-ending wrist injury.
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Angel Reese, #10 of the LSU Lady Tigers, reacts toward Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes, during the fourth quarter during the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game at American Airlines Center on April 2, 2023 in Dallas. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Still, the two young stars transcended sports, and it started during the 2023 women’s basketball national championship between Reese’s LSU and Clark’s Iowa. Reese’s taunt toward Clark sparked the rivalry, which only grew further after Iowa topped LSU in the tournament last season.
“My life literally just changed from that game,” Reese told WSJ Magazine in a recent interview.
As she looked back on the moment, she recognized what it did for the women’s game.
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LSU’s Angel Reese, #10, reacts in front of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, #22, during the second half of the NCAA Women’s Final Four championship basketball game on Sunday, April 2, 2023 in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
“It’s just a full-circle moment of how women are viewed when it comes to trash-talking,” she told the outlet. “It’s OK in men’s sports. We’re going to normalize that in women’s sports as well. So it’s just super-competitive. I think we’re two great competitors.
“We brought a lot of fans to this league,” she said of her and Clark’s WNBA rookie season “And I think we’re going to continue to do that. And one day, hopefully, we’ll be teammates.”
For now, the two will take the offseason to regroup.
Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Indiana Fever, and Angel Reese, #5 of the Chicago Sky, look on during the game on June 1, 2024 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Reese is set to play in the 3-on-3 Unrivaled basketball league while Clark has her sights set on a golf pro-am next month.
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