The 2024 WNBA season has gotten off to a raucous start, from 2024 No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark being the target of every team she faces, to No. 7 pick Angel Reese being clotheslined by Connecticut Sun star Alyssa Thomas and shrugging it off to being part of the game.
Then there’s the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces, who already have suffered two home losses and sit at 4-2, which is second-best record in the Western Conference and fourth-best in the league overall.
With so many other storylines that have helped the league gain this unprecedented popularity, the two biggest names through it all have been Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
The two star rookies have a rivalry that dates as far back as high school, but really picked up in the 2023 women’s national championship game.
That’s when Reese’s LSU Tigers defeated Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes to win the program’s first national title.
Clark returned the favor in this past season’s NCAA Tournament as the Hawkeyes knocked off the Tigers to advance to the Final Four.
Reese Wants Her Flowers: Nobody Moves Needle Like Clark
It’s no secret how much the league’s popularity, visibility and exposure has grown since this talented 2024 draft class arrived.
But make no mistake about it, no one moves the meter quite like the aforementioned Clark.
The league has gone from no chartered flights to now having them, and the very first one was the Indiana Fever traveling for a road game.
The Fever are also selling out everywhere, at home and away. In fact the home teams have had to move many of their home games against the Fever to bigger venues.
Angel Reese Is Right
Clark isn’t alone though. In fact, Reese playing villain to Clark’s hero has done wonders for the league.
The Chicago Sky forward, who’s never been afraid to speak her mind was doing just that during Monday’s media session.
When asked about her teammate Chennedy Carter’s cheap shot on Clark in the Fever’s 71-70 win over the Sky on Saturday, Reese mentioned how the physical play has always been a league staple.
She also made it known that she wants credit for helping bring this new and invigorating love for women’s basketball both collegiate and professionally.
“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 because of one person, it’s because of me too, and I want you too to realize that.”
Reese Is OK With Villain Role If It Continues To Help Bring Attention To Women’s Game
For the better part of 15 months Reese has become the villain, and she’s more than OK with that as long as it helps to continue to grow the game.
She’s embraced it and lived with it, and she’s made a nice bag from it. As she told reporters on Monday, that’s just fine.
“I’ll take the bad guy role. I’ll take that bad guy role, and I’ll continue to take that on, and be that for my teammates,” Reese said.
And she means it. Reese could be seen applauding Carter’s cheap shot on Clark, but video also showed Clark hitting Carter with an elbow in the neck area and then taunting her on the previous play.
Maybe that’s what Reese was cheering, her teammate’s get-back. Either way there’s no love lost between her and Clark, whom she respects as a player, but they’re not friends.
Reese is in the perfect place playing for the perfect coach in Teresa Weatherspoon, a legendary former player who was known for her tenacity, grit and on-the-edge style of play.
Angel Reese Playing Well
Reese’s skill set would transfer to any league because she has plays so hard and with a rare toughness and grit not seen from most rookies. She’s averaging 10.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
