For all the ‘2024 WNBA was only scratching the surface,’ the persisting season had a start not many were of. Sure, the surge in ticket sales and viewership kept up, but that isn’t all that has come to matter. The influx of interest seems to have gone all the wrong ways. “Like this is too much. I am not here for the politics. I am not here for the reality show element… I am here for the basketball,” Rachel DeMita had summed up. And looks like that’s a sentiment now common among long-time spectators.
Hinting at the very incident of May 17, 2025, where a physical altercation between the players led to a flagrant foul, national reporter Seerat Sohi observed how the entire WNBA weekend, a first of the 2025 season, revolved only around the Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese dynamic. So much so that it overpowered all the other matchups that were taking place.
On the latest episode of the Ringer WNBA Show, Sohi referred to the incident and said, “It is going to overshadow all the incredible WNBA action that happened over the weekend.”
The whole matter, which should have died down with the flagrant foul on the court, has blown up the whole rivalry on social media to a much deeper, dirtier extent. Clark might have said, “Let’s not make it anything that it’s not. It was just a good play on the basketball,” in the post-game conference, but it clearly flew past the spectators. Hate flew, the league stepped in, and the WNBA seemed to have stuck in a single timeline.
So what did happen around the league? The Lynx and the Liberty are dominating the power rankings. The Aces lost their season opener. Phoenix with 8 new players, never trailed in their game 1 against the Seattle Storm. Kelsey Plum set a record with a 37-point performance while Natasha Cloud made her NY debut with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks, becoming only the 4th player to hit those marks. DeWanna Bonner had her moment, too, improving to 3rd on the all-time scoring list with 7,489.
When a lot of that got lost, Sohi couldn’t help but express frustration over the overblown Reese-Clark rivalry, when in fact, title contenders Lynx vs Fever or frontcourt elites Aces vs Sky would have made better sense. This led her to call out the WNBA on its scheduling for the season.
“The WNBA has scheduled Indiana and Chicago to play four more times this season, apparently for the clicks,” she noted. Sohi says so because the two aren’t looking like rivals by any means. The Stephanie White-led side is clearly aiming for the title, while Tyler Marsh has a playoff spot in sight. Plus that 35-point difference in game 1? It made clear a few things. Sure, the game drew 2.7 million views– the highest of any regular-season game over the last 25 years across ESPN networks. But is it right to forego the bigger picture– the interest in women’s basketball and the legacy of the W?
Now, the schedule was released even before the free agency had kicked off, and the new looks were given a glimpse of. So the best the league and the spectators could do is lay better focus on the rest of the league and the matchups that matter with all the knowledge at hand. As for the Angel Reese – Caitlin Clark rivalry? People are already dismissing it.
Are Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese still rivals?
While both players have often denied their rivalry rumours, the narrative hasn’t failed to follow them around. But there’s a line now being drawn. ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith, for one, cleared the air during The Rich Eisen Show. He made a list of three reasons to explain why the dynamic is not a rivalry.
The analyst explained that Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky operate on two different levels. Just as reporter Sohi had pointed out, the gameplay and agenda of the teams are very different and unique to their respective rosters. And though he commends Angel Reese for her remarkable rebounding prowess and ability to become a rising star in the W, he is astounded by the Fever star’s skills. But coming back to the question- is this truly a rivalry? Referring to Indiana Fever’s solid 93-58 victory against the Chicago Sky, Smith says, “Not when you lose by 35 points.”
But he isn’t the only one breaking the narrative. “I love the idea of this being a real rivalry… But, both parties got to hold up their end of the bargain, as far as them both being awesome,” analyst Nick Wright noted. Rachel DeMita, for another, had pronounced it dead before the season even kick-started.
So while the storyline has more than a few hooked, people are also pulling away, letting both the players grow in their space.
The post Not All Smiles Around WNBA’s Caitlin Clark vs Angel Reese Agenda After National Reporter’s Brutal Reality Check appeared first on EssentiallySports.