Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have widely been considered rivals since college.
Clark, who previously played for the Iowa Hawkeyes and Reese, who competed with the LSU Tigers during the latter half of her college basketball career, were pitted against each other in the NCAA.
Reese and the Tigers defeated Iowa in the 2023 national championship when the now Chicago Sky star delivered her infamous “you can’t see me” taunt toward Clark.
After both found their own success in college, Reese made the move to the Sky and Clark took over as a star for the Indiana Fever.
The two have helped lead a major push in the WNBA’s popularity.
They went head-to-head in the first game of the season, drawing 2.7 million viewers, the most-watched game on ESPN platforms in league history, per FOS.
WNBA legend Lisa Leslie recently spoke on their influence, sharing high praise for Reese and Clark. Leslie believes they have led an “explosion” in women’s basketball.
“When you look at what happened with Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark in college, you know it was like the explosion that we needed,” Leslie said, via Locked On Women’s Basketball. “We’ve been playing this style and grace of basketball for so many years, but there’s some X-factors here… Caitlin and Angel, I think, just took it to another level.”
Last season with the Fever, Clark posted 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game. She won the Rookie of the Year award and was named a starter in the WNBA All-Star Game.
Reese finished her first season in the league averaging 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. She led the WNBA in rebounding, establishing herself as one of the top forwards in the league.
Now, Reese and Clark have taken another step in their WNBA careers, drawing more interest to the league in their second seasons.
