A lot of the early storylines in the 2024 WNBA season has been centered around one young star: No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark.
But Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, this year’s No. 7 overall pick, made it known that she also deserves credit for growing women’s basketball.
“I know I’ll go down in history,” Reese told reporters on Monday. “I’ll look back in 20 years and be like: ‘Yeah, the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person, it’s because of me too, and I want you to realize that.”
Reese and Clark were two of the most popular names in this year’s star-studded WNBA Draft class as both dominated on the court and off of it. Clark became the NCAA’s all-time scoring leader in her time in Iowa while Reese led LSU to a national championship in 2023.
And both young stars secured big paydays in college through NIL deals.
The two players have been connected in the public spotlight ever since Reese’s LSU squad defeated Clark and the Hawkeyes in that 2023 title game. Reese famously taunted Clark toward the end of the game by pointing to her ring finger and then did the “You can’t see me” hand gesture toward Clark before the final buzzer. Earlier in the tournament, Clark had used WWE star John Cena’s signature taunt after one of her signature 3-pointers.
The two teams faced off again in April in an Elite Eight matchup that drew a record-setting 12.3 million viewers.
“It all started from the national championship game, and I’ve been dealing with this for two years now,” Reese said. “Understanding, yeah, negative things have probably been said about me, but honestly I’ll take that because look at where women’s basketball is.
“People are talking about women’s basketball, who you never would think would be talking about women’s basketball. People are pulling up to games. We got celebrities coming to games, sold-out arenas just because of one single game.”
Reese noted that she’s fine with the “bad guy role” and she’ll “continue to take that on and be that for my teammates, and I know I’ll go down in history.”
Reese’s teammate, Chennedy Carter, has also been under the spotlight after knocking down Clark in the third quarter of Saturday’s win over the Fever. The away-from-the-ball foul was initially ruled a common foul but got upgraded to a flagrant-1 a day later. Fever head coach Christie Sides said Sunday the flagrant -1 “needed to be called in that moment.”
Carter, the 4th overall pick in the 2020 draft out of Texas A&M, defended herself on Monday.
“I’m seeing a lot of things — players, fans not understanding who I am as a player,” Carter said. “You have to understand me as a person, too. And don’t just look at one tape and form an opinion about me. I’m truly a passionate person about the game, and I’m genuine. You can ask all my teammates, they’ve gotten to know me. They know the real Chennedy Carter. So I’m just saying, don’t form an opinion off of one little clip. And you didn’t even see the whole game and/or the play that led to that.”
Reese was also under fire for seemingly celebrating Carter’s blow to Clark from the bench.
Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon addressed the incident in a statement on Monday.
“Physical play, intensity, and a competitive spirit are hallmarks of Chicago Sky basketball,” Weatherspoon said. “Chennedy got caught up in the heat of the moment in an effort to win the game.
“She and I have discussed what happened and that it was not appropriate, nor is it what we do or who we are. Chennedy understands that there are better ways to handle situations on the court, and she will learn from this, as we all will.”
