Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese to set aside rivalry, and join forces against Team USA

Even if for just 40 minutes, collegiate rivals who brought their on-court friction to the WNBA earlier this year will be setting aside their rivalry to play together on Team WNBA. Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese will join forces on Saturday in the league’s All-Star Game as they go hard to take on the United States women’s national team.

For all the fiery competitive spirit the duo has brought to the WNBA floor, their contentious face-off has amassed a following of its own, projecting narratives that may not all be sound and rounded. In the face of such a constantly brewing discussion, each time the athletes’ names are put together in a headline, the results have often been disastrous. However, this time, that conversation has been consciously turned on its head, and even the players are well aware of the fact that their unification may just make room for records of a different twist.

Angel Reese on Caitlin Clark team up for the weekend All-Star game

Even Reese agreed that their team-up is evidently “what everybody wants to see.”

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“I’m looking forward to it,” the Chicago Sky rookie said on Friday. Poking self-deprecating humour at their longstanding rivalry, she quipped, “Everybody can wear their ‘Get Along’ shirts together for one day, at least. So, I know a lot of people are going to come and watch us, to see all of us, but there's a lot of talent within both rosters of the teams, so they're in for a good one," ESPN reported.

Clark is on the same page as Reese and thinks their collaboration will be “fun” and it will be a one-of-a-kind experience to share the All-Star stage with Reese as rookies.

Brief history of Clark, Reese rivalry

The WNBA rookie standouts clashed against each other in the 2023 Women’s NCAA tournament national championship game. Back then, Clark was at Iowa and Reese at LSU. As for their big league plays against each other, they’ve already stepped out with their respective teams thrice in the first half of the WNBA season.

Beyond the “rivalry” narrative that has seemingly set in stone in the media around the duo, Clark has ardently expressed that the kind of attention she and Reese are attracting to women’s basketball will go a long way in bolstering the game’s foundation and exposure.

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Although both players are ready to play in the All-Star Game, neither of them participated in Friday night’s skills competitions.

Why Caitlin Clark didn't participate in the 3-point contest

“I’ve been playing basketball for a year straight. It’s not an easy thing to just show up to and shoot off of a rack. It’s not something I’ve ever done before,” Clark explained why she didn’t participate in the 3-point contest.

“It's not something I've had a lot of time to practice. I've been focusing on helping my team win games, so I think just enjoying this break, I think there's going to be plenty of opportunities for me to do that at some point, but at the same time, like the field of shooters that we have in the competition are really good. They're all like near 40% shooters, so I'm excited for them.”

While Clark has dreamt of representing Team USA at the Olympics, she’s not a member of the 2024 Paris squad. For the time being, she’s making the most of her “very beneficial” four-week break. Even though she’s taking “some time to breathe” she’s also planning on squeezing in some workouts. For a professional player of her stature, not touching the basketball for a week may be a bit uncomfortable, but she acknowledges that it’s “ going to be the healthiest thing for myself, and I think just relax, like, turn my phone off, get away from everything and really enjoy it because, obviously, this past year has been super crazy.”

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