Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have built one of the most compelling rivalries in American sports. The two WNBA All-Stars have been competing against each other since their high school days as elite basketball prospects. That rivalry continued into college, reaching a peak during the highly anticipated 2023 national championship matchup between Iowa and LSU. Clark was selected first overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft, while Reese went seventh to the Chicago Sky. Both went on to have historic rookie seasons with their respective teams.
Clark ended her first WNBA season as the near-unanimous Rookie of the Year, with Reese receiving the only other vote. Before beginning her professional career, Clark secured an eight-year, $28 million endorsement deal with Nike. Recently, Nike intensified the Clark-Reese rivalry with a marketing move—placing two Clark billboards near Chicago’s Wintrust Arena.
After being named Time’s Athlete of the Year in December, Clark downplayed the rivalry.
“I don’t get that at all,” the Fever’s All-Star guard said. “We’re not best friends, by any means, but we’re very respectful of one another… Yes, we have had tremendous battles. But when have I ever guarded her? And when has she guarded me?”
Reese, for her part, embraced the competition.
“I think it’s just competition. It’s been competition since college,” she said last year. “Playing against Caitlin, I’ve been competing against her since we were probably in eighth or ninth grade. We were both really competitive in AAU. I went to Maryland, she went to Iowa, so we competed there, and then finally in the national championship. People don’t realize the legacy of us playing against each other for a really long time.”
Clark and Reese will face off in a season-opening showdown when the Fever host the Sky on May 17.
