Caitlin Clark insists her shove on Angel Reese was nothing more than a basketball play and by no means ‘malicious’ after tempers flared between the two bitter rivals on the WNBA’s opening weekend.
During a fiery season opener between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky, Clark slapped the Sky forward across the arm after she grabbed an offensive rebound, sending her tumbling to the floor midway through the third quarter.
Reese was left incensed by the push, leaping back to her feet and making a beeline for the Fever star before her teammates quickly intervened.
Following a replay review, the referees upgraded Clark’s foul to a flagrant one much to her astonishment.
During an in-game interview with ESPN, the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year stressed that she was simply doing what every basketball player would do in the same situation.
‘It’s just a good take foul,’ Clark said. ‘You know, either Angel gets a wide open two points, or we send them to the free-throw line.
Caitlin Clark insists her shove on Angel Reese was nothing more than a basketball play
‘Nothing malicious about it. It’s just a good take foul. Every basketball player knows that.’
She also doubled down on that claim in her postgame press conference, urging reporters to ‘not make it anything it’s not.’
‘I wasn’t trying to do anything malicious. That’s not the type of player I am,’ Clark insisted.
‘I went for the ball, and that’s clear as day in the replay. You watch it… it shouldn’t have been upgraded [to a flagrant foul]. But that’s up the ref’s discretion.’
Reese went on to miss the first of her two throws, which drew huge cheers from the Fever crowd inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, before making the second as Chicago added a layup on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to 56-45.
However, Indiana closed the third quarter on a 9-0 run to take a crucial 65-45 lead, and Chicago never really threatened to stage a comeback in the fourth.
It was Clark who therefore had the last laugh over her arch-nemesis as the Fever cruised past the Sky 93-58 to open their account in style.
The fierce enemies have brought their rivalry from the college ranks with them into the big leagues, having famously clashed on the court during LSU and Iowa’s NCAA Championship game in 2023.
Reese was seething after being sent tumbling to the ground by the Indiana Fever sensation
Clark could not believe that her foul was upgraded to flagrant by the referee on the day
In a memorable moment, Reese performed Clark’s trademark ‘You Can’t See Me’ celebration right in her face as she helped LSU claim victory on the night.
Last season they also went head-to-head for the coveted WNBA Rookie of the Year award, with the Indiana sensation ultimately coming out on top.
However, their competitiveness turned ugly when Chicago player Chennedy Carter brutally shoved Caitlin to the ground at one stage in the 2024 campaign, before Angel appeared to walk away laughing with her teammate about it afterwards.
A number of analysts claimed the frenzy surrounding Clark and Reese had turned into a race war, yet they managed to brush all that aside and play together in last year’s WNBA All-Star Game.
