Clark/Reese Drama + WNBA Preview
- Luke Loew
- May 22
- 8 min read
That's right, Bean's Blog is in the WNBA game. We're progressive as hell over here. And Interest in the WNBA has never been higher. The 2024 season saw a 170% viewership increase from 2023. Add in a 50% increase in attendance league-wide, social video views increased 252%, and WNBA Finals views increased 115% (worth noting the League still loses millions annually, but is improving). The League is in good hands with established Super Stars like A'ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, and Breanna Stewart -- but it's meteoric rise is no doubt largely due to the popularity of Caitlin Clark, plus plenty of young stars like Cameron Brink, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and more.
But for a League that seems to be on the upward trajectory, there is still a ton of negative discourse surrounding it. Salary/compensation disputes, media coverage, social justice -- many factors continue to loom over the League. Open up Twitter and you'll find some negative, hateful takes surrounding the sport and/or players -- which I actually think is a positive sign of growth in popularity (NBA Twitter is a hostile world). No better example than Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese recently -- two players that can't escape the headlines, good or bad. In Today's Blog, I want to examine the Drama surrounding these players -- but also to Preview the WNBA Season as a whole with my Playoff/Finals Predictions and End of Season Award Predictions.
Caitlin Clark v Angel Reese
The Sky and The Fever opened up their WNBA seasons against each other this past Saturday afternoon in Indy. And respectfully to Chicago, it was a fucking slaughter. Fever win 93-58, led by Caitlin Clark's 20/10/10 Triple-Double -- the 3rd trip-dub of her career. Aliyah Boston went for 19/13, and Kelsey Mitchell and Natasha Howard (acquired in the offseason from Dallas) each went for 15. Angel Reese led the Sky with 12 points and 17 rebounds in a game no one on Chicago could find their rhythm.
But the story that overshadowed these performances was an incident in the 3rd quarter that saw Clark commit a hard foul on Reese -- which led to a Flagrant on Clark and off-setting technical fouls for Reese and Boston in the ensuing scuffle. Do I think the foul was worthy of a flagrant? No. Do I think this has been blown out of proportion in a massive way? Sure do. So why has it been such a big deal in the media in the days following?
For starters, if you paid attention in the post-game, both Clark AND Reese said that they thought it was a basketball play -- aka, nothing malicious. Reese shoved Natasha Howard out of the play, Clark saw, hard fouled her back to keep 2 points off the board. Simple, strategic basketball. But Reese's reaction in the moment is what has people so fired up because she was visibly upset about the foul and stepped toward CC. That's called Passion, Competitiveness. Any person who's played a sport competitively knows that emotions run high in the moment, and I don't think Angel did anything wrong reacting the way she did. I also don't think CC did anything wrong -- she said in the moment it was a smart foul, and it was. So this whole thing has been blown out of proportion.
In the days following, the discourse around the events has turned incredibly ugly. A narrative that continues to be pushed between these players is that the rivalry is racially-driven. It's become impossible for someone to give their take on the situation without being accused of racism by the other side. There have been OUTRAGEOUS takes thrown around online. "Caitlin Clark not coming out of the game so she could get her Triple-Double is racially-driven" is a very real take I saw online. Reese is going on TikTok reposting videos about "the white girl running away," and the League's investigating a "racial incident" after Fever fans cheered when Angel missed a Free Throw. The Fans on both sides are delusional, and the League doesn't know how to handle it.
What's happening is this "rivalry" between Caitlin and Angel no longer has anything to do with basketball, and has everything to do with media personalities spewing nonsense about female athletes. Just this week, Robert Griffin III and Ryan Clark get into a beef over this. RG3 gives a take that Angel Reese has true hatred/resentment for CC, so Ryan Clark says RG3 isn't qualified to talk about Angel Reese because... RG3 has a white wife? What the fuck are we doing here?
I'm an Iowa fan -- my Dad's from Iowa, been an Iowa fan his entire life, and I grew up watching football and basketball games with him. In 2020-2021, when CC was a freshman at Iowa, my dad started watching more women's basketball than I've ever seen, and it was because of Caitlin. "You gotta see this girl play, she's unbelievable." I was blown away, and we wound up watching more women's games than men's games over the next few years because we couldn't get enough. So naturally I've become a huge Caitlin supporter -- I even have her jersey.
Because of this upbringing, it's probably no surprise I'm not a fan of Angel Reese. I had no reason to dislike her until the 2023 National Championship game when she taunted Clark as the buzzer sounded, and how negatively she talked about CC in the months after. And while I don't want to single her out/antagonize her, Reese herself instigates a lot of the conflict. Whether she's saying "I guess some people get a special whistle" after smoking CC in the head on a layup, or saying that she's the reason people are watching women's basketball and not CC, or liking posts saying all Clark/Fever fans are racist, or cartoonishly cheering when her teammate body-checks CC to the ground for no reason, or fueling the negative narrative every chance she gets off the court.
So no -- I will probably never like Angel Reese. I'll probably always think she's a petty person that resents Caitlin. But that doesn't mean she's a bad player, and it doesn't mean she's not a star in her own right. She just doesn't hold a candle to CC, which is completely fine. She shouldn't be compared to CC, they're completely different players and the skill gap is massive. My favorite tweet I've seen on the matter (and the most accurate) was this:
"The Caitlin Clark/Angel Reese rivalry is like if Kobe Bryant had Beef with Marcin Gortat." @taggartkent -- we cite our sources around here
But I do think that Reese is villainized to an unfair extent. There are some truly vile things that are said online about this woman that have no place in the world. So I do sympathize with her in that aspect, even if I'm not a fan of her personally. And I think it's unfair to Angel to be pitted against Caitlin in every facet of her career. She's a good basketball player with a very bright future -- she's probably the best rebounder in the WNBA and has the tools to improve. I just hope her career isn't defined by her rivalry with Caitlin Clark, because both players deserve their own spotlight, not a shared one, and not in the shadow of one another.
And now that we got the heavy topic out of the way -- let's talk some ball.
Playoff Predictions
The WNBA playoffs are interesting when it comes to format, because unlike the NBA, they send the Top 8 teams to the playoffs regardless of conference. The above will be the end of my Sky takes because they certainly won't be mentioned below. My playoff predictions are as follows:
#1 Seed: Minnesota Lynx
I think Napheesa Collier is Top 3, if not number 1, in terms of best player in the W. Best defensive player by a mile. Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman are a solid backcourt duo, but Kayla McBride's return is needed. Alanna Smith can hoop, they've got plenty of depth, and keep an eye out for Jessica Shepard.
#2 Seed: New York Liberty
The Liberty are top-heavy, but those top players are fucking great. Stewie is elite, Jonquel Jones is a baller (her story is cool too - played college ball at George Washington), Sabrina Ionescu is a sniper, and Natasha Cloud is a terrific scorer/playmaker they brought in from Phoenix that adds another dimension to their attack.
#3 Seed: Indiana Fever
I think Caitlin Clark is going to take a sizable jump forward in her 2nd season, and the team around her has improved in a big way. Aliyah Boston is an anchor in the middle, Dewanna Bonner is a legend and veteran presence, Nat Howard is an athletic forward, Kelsey Mitchell is one of the best shooters in the W. Sophie Cunningham is a slept-on signing as well, and Lexie Hull shot 47% last year from 3 (Tres Leches -- CC, Sophie, Lexie).
#4 Seed: Atlanta Dream
I really like the make-up of this Dream team. Britney Griner is the foundation in the middle, but they added Brionna Jones from Connecticut this offseason to play alongside her. I also think Allisha Gray is a critically underrated player in this league, and I like Rhyne Howard a lot. X-Factor: Te-Hina Paopao, their rookie from South Carolina.
#5 Seed: Las Vegas Aces
I'm lower on the Aces than most, and those who are high on them have good reason. Reigning MVP A'ja Wilson, multiple-time All-Stars on the wings and guard spots in Chelsea Gray, Jewell Lloyd, and Jackie Young. I just don't think they have good depth behind these 4, but A'ja can carry them as high as the #1 seed.
#6 Seed: Phoenix Mercury
This team has 2 of my favorite players in the league in Alyssa Thomas (do-it-all forward) and Satou Sabally (sharp-shooting forward) -- but not much going on around them at this point. Kahleah Copper is also excellent but is sidelined with injury -- so the depth of this team will have to step-up/improve as the season goes.
#7 Seed: Los Angeles Sparks
The Young Sparks experienced some lumps last season after Cameron Brink's injury. She'll be back later this season, but what I like about this team was the offseason signing of Kelsey Plum, and impressive 2nd-year wing Rickea Jackson. They also have a dependable frontcourt combo in Dearica Hamby and Azura Stevens.
#8 Seed: Dallas Wings
They've opened the season with back-to-back losses, but I think this Wings team will only improve as the season goes. Paige Bueckers was their #1 pick in the draft, but Arike Ogunbowale was #2 in the league in scoring in 2024. They added DiJonai Carrington in the offseason, Maddy Siegrist is a good young player, and Nalyssa Smith is an active post player for this group.
1st Round:
2nd Round:
Finals:
Award Predictions
MVP: Napheesa Collier (MIN)
Runner-up: Caitlin Clark (IND)
Caitlin Clark will 100% be in the convo if the Fever are a Top-4 team, she's already become the favorite. A'ja Wilson will be there defending her 24' MVP, but Collier gets the edge leading the Lynx to the league's best record and a slight drop-off from the Aces. (Clark +200, Wilson +225, Collier +300).
Rookie of the Year: Paige Bueckers (DAL)
Runner-up: Sonia Citron (WSH)
Paige is the only choice here. She's gonna play a ton, Dallas should be decent (0-2 to start though) and she's the most popular rookie by far. Citron out of Notre Dame has lit it up in DC's first two games, 3rd overall pick.
Comments