Much has been made of the dynamic between WNBA star rookies Caitlin Clark
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and Angel Reese, and the 22-year-old Indiana Fever player seems to be over it.
With the Fever and the Chicago Sky about to play their third matchup of the season on June 23, Clark was asked about her feelings on the so-called “rivalry” as she prepares to face off against Reese on the court once again.
“I’m pretty sure the only people that view this as a rivalry is all of you,” she bluntly told a reporter during a post-game press conference on June 21. “Like, to us it’s just a game of basketball.”
While she conceded that it’s “amazing” that interest in both teams helps “move the game forward,” she also questioned why the matchup hasn’t been moved to a larger arena like some other Fever games this season. “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.”
Still, Clark says the “two prior matchups have really lived up to what everybody expected” and were “really great basketball.”
Clark’s coach Christie Sides and teammate NaLyssa Smith both looked shocked and amused by her response—and they weren’t the only ones who enjoyed her statements. “Caitlin Clark wore her sassy pants to the post-game interview last night,” TikTok basketball commentator @youforgotaboutdre joked in one video post with more than 44,000 likes. In the comments, many praised Clark’s “epic” words, while others delighting in Coach Side’s “priceless” expressions.
“It is a great response,” one user replied. “The public makes the rivalry. They are both great players.”
The young basketball players first sparked nation-wide interest in 2023, when their trash talk went viral during an NCAA championship game between Reese’s LSU Tigers and Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes.
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