Amid the drama surrounding her long-running rivalry with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese insisted she has no problem playing the villain if it brings more eyeballs to the WNBA.
‘People are pulling up to games, we have celebrities coming to games, sold out arenas. Just because of one single game,’ the Chicago Sky rookie said about her matchup against Clark and the Indiana Fever earlier this month.
‘And just looking at that… I’ll take that role. I’ll take the bad guy role and I’ll continue to take that on – and be that for my teammates.’
Reese had caused uproar that night following her teammate Chennedy Carter’s brutal bodycheck on Clark – the No. 1 WNBA Draft pick.
After Carter shoved her to the ground unprovoked, they received fierce criticism for appearing to laugh about the foul together while making their way off the court.
Angel Reese has emerged as a top contender to win the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year award
Over the past four weeks, the unnecessary roughness Clark has been subjected to has sparked major controversy, with some suggesting both her and Reese are being weaponized by opposing sides in a ‘race war’. The topic has spiraled out of control at times, with the Chicago forward’s own foul on her former college nemesis a few weeks later reigniting the outrage once more.
Reese was heavily berated in certain sections after hitting Clark in the head during a defeat for the Sky and then implying that the Fever superstar greats a ‘special whistle’ from the referees. Jason Whitlock said she was playing ‘victim’, while Dave Portnoy accused her of suffering from ‘main character syndrome’.
At that time, Indiana had just beaten Chicago for the second straight game as Clark scored 23 points, more than double her rival rookie. Whitlock even went as far as to claim that Reese, the WNBA’s No. 7 draft pick, was ‘the most overrated athlete in all of sports’.
Nevertheless, last weekend the controversial sports commentator was forced to eat his words when Reese inspired the Sky to a much-needed victory over Clark’s Fever at the third time of asking.
The former LSU star showed exactly why she is so highly regarded in women’s basketball after turning on the style late on to put up a career-high 25 points and drag her team over the line. It was a gentle reminder that Clark is not the only generational talent slowly being introduced to WNBA-level basketball this season.
‘I’m a dog, you can’t teach that,’ Reese said after the game. ‘I’m going to go out and do whatever it takes to win every single night. My teammates rely on my energy. So being able to continue that energy even if we’re down, even if we’re up, that’s what I do.’
Reese and Chicago Sky teammate Chennedy Carter drew heavy criticism earlier this month for their brutal treatment of Caitlin Clark (Pictured: Carter shoving Clark to the ground)
Over the past four weeks Reese and Clark have been at the center of a fierce debate
Reese sparked further outrage by hitting her former college rival in the head (pictured)
While she ranks 28th when it comes to points per game, at 22 years of age Reese is already recording the second-most rebounds per game (11.1) and the eighth-highest steals per game (1.7). And in offensive rebounds, she is a class above the rest with an incredible 4.7 per game.
It may have taken her some time to truly get up to speed, but Reese is already proving herself one of the best players in the WNBA, a remarkable feat for a young prospect in the first few months of her rookie season.
Just like her adversary over in Indiana, the girl from Randallstown, Maryland, appears fazed by very little on the court. Her self-confessed role as the villain, as the ‘bad guy’ in this gripping feud, actually seems to be fueling her on.
Clark will undoubtedly be the favorite to scoop this year’s Rookie of the Year prize if she continues scoring points at the same rate, with a return of 16.3 per game leaving her top of the pile.
However, just behind her in the pecking order is Reese – the fiery, no-nonsense forward prepared to pull no punches on and off the court; who also has a marginally higher shooting-from-the-field percentage (40.6 percent compared to Clark’s 39.9).
After looking like she was going to run away with it earlier in the season, Clark now has a serious competitor in her race for the rookie honor.
But on Sunday the Chicago rookie flexed her muscles as one of the top players in the league
She scored a career-high 25 points to sink Clark and the Indiana Fever for the first time
The two will undoubtedly be frontrunners for this season’s prestigious rookie award
Yet according to former Dallas Cowboys star Dez Bryant, Reese is not receiving anywhere near enough credit for the quality she is showcasing on the court.
In a post on X this week, Bryant called out ESPN analysts Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe for not bigging up the Sky sensation, writing: ‘I don’t see much praise on the historic rookie run Angel Reese is having in her Rookie year @stephenasmith @ShannonSharpe where y’all at? She deserves the high praise right now!’
One man who did shower Reese in praise after her win over Indiana, however, was Skip Bayless, Smith and Sharpe’s ex-colleague.
In fact, Bayless even went as far as to question whether Clark has the same ‘dog’ in her that Reese boasted about having at the weekend.
‘The first thing out of [Reese’s] mouth was “I got that dog in me,”‘ he said of the LSU alum’s post-game interview.
‘Conversely, I don’t know if [Clark] has got that dog in her.
‘You either were born with it or you weren’t, and you can’t nurture it, coach it or teach it. It’s what you’re made of.’
Reese claimed she has that ‘dog’ in her after Sunday’s crucial victory over the Fever
Whether Reese does indeed prove to have more ‘dog’ in her than Clark in the remainder of the season remains to be seen.
What does appear certain, though, is that Chicago’s ‘Bayou Barbie’ will be firmly in the running to be crowned top WNBA rookie this season.
Just like she did in college, Reese is thriving as the villain of the tale. It is a role she knows all too well after infamously performing Clark’s own ‘You Can’t See Me’ celebration in her face and receiving a similar backlash in the process.
The LSU Tigers got the better of the Iowa Hawkeyes that night as Reese beat Clark to the NCAA title. She will be hoping the omens remain the same in what promises to be an epic battle of the rookies in the coming months.
