Stephen A. Smith thinks WNBA fans are projecting their ‘fears’ about America’s white population ‘evaporating’ onto Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese amid their bitter rivalry.
The ESPN pundit offered his thoughts on whether he believes that the pair – who have skyrocketed to fame over the past few months – were being weaponized as part of a ‘race war.’
‘I don’t think so, but that’s a valid question,’ he began a segment on Wednesday’s episode of his network show, First Take.
Smith conceded that the highly-publicized competition between the former college adversaries would ‘not be as appealing’ if they were both white or both black.
However, he thinks their rivalry has more to do with their differing ‘styles’ than race.
Stephen A Smith offered his thoughts on whether there’s a ‘race war’ in the WNBA
He thinks fans are projecting their ‘fears’ onto superstar rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese
‘You could say race but the reality is that it wasn’t really any kind of warfare until … Angel Reese met Caitlin Clark in the NCAA tournament and smoked her with LSU,’ he said of the 2023 college championship.
‘Angel Reese is a proud black woman who doesn’t run from any noise and so when you look at that, that’s what I think it’s about. You can say race, I think it’s styles,’ he went on.
‘She ain’t trying to be politically correct and polished to the point where she’s afraid of being apolitical, that’s not her thing, and it’s the antithesis of Caitlin Clark.’
Elsewhere in the conversation, Smith added, ‘Race always plays a role in something like this to some degree because America is America.’
He continued, ‘The white population, once 90%, has dipped to 60% … there is a fear that society as we once knew it is evaporating before our eyes and some people handle that better than others.’
Both rookies have found themselves at the center of a media storm, with their rivalry propelling WNBA viewership to never-before-seen heights.
Just last week, Reese committed a flagrant foul against Clark during the Indiana Fever’s meeting with the Chicago Sky.
‘Angel Reese is a proud black woman who doesn’t run from any noise,’ he said of the Sky star
The LSU alum recently missed a block and smacked the former Iowa star on the head
Their intense rivalry has propelled WNBA viewership to never-before-seen heights
The LSU alum missed a block and smacked the former Iowa star on the head while she was jumping for the basket. Reese later threw shade at Clark, claiming the Fever received a ‘special whistle.’
Indiana’s 91-83 victory became the league’s most-watched game in 23 years, averaging 2.25 million viewers with a peak of 3 million.
It’s an astonishing 225% increase over last season.
Many commentators have tried to draw comparisons between the Reese-Clark rivalry and Larry Bird’s long-running contention with Magic Johnson during the 1980s.
While both rivalries began in college – the 2023 women’s NCAA title game for Reese-Clark and the 1979 men’s championship for Magic-Bird – before continuing in the pros, Smith thinks the comparison is a slight stretch.
While the Celtics’ Bird and Lakers’ Johnson were similar players, Reese is a gritty power forward and Clark is a sharp-shooting guard and developing distributor.
‘Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ain’t competing with Larry Bird as much as Magic Johnson was going up against Larry Bird,’ Smith said, before offering the New York Liberty’s All-Star guard as a better rivalry for the Fever rookie.
‘If [Sabrina] Ionescu and Caitlin Clark were going at one another, now that’s a rivalry that I’m willing to entertain because their games are similar.’
