Ever since Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese faced each other in the 2023 NCAA national title game between Iowa and LSU, the two basketball stars have been pitted against each other.
This "rivalry" has been debunked by both Clark and Reese since the rumors started that there was one, but some fans still run with this idea that the two players don't get along.
Clark, who was named Time's Athlete of the Year, spoke about her relationship with Reese during her interview with Sean Gregory, as she once again expressed how this rivalry is "fabricated." She mentioned the "you can't see me" gesture Reese mimicked of Clark during that title game, too, but admitted how she was never bothered by it. There's no bad blood between the two WNBA superstars.
“I don’t get that at all,” Clark 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?
"I didn’t think it was taunting,” Clark said of Reese's gesture. “It really didn’t bother me. It’s just like, ‘Why don’t you talk about them winning? Or the incredible run that we went on that nobody would have thought we would have ever gone on?’ The only thing people cared about was this controversy that was really fabricated and made up, and then that has continued to be the case ever since.”
Reese recently spoke about the "rivalry" as well, saying it's more of a "competition" between the two of them rather than something negative.
Despite this narrative surrounding the two players, Clark and Reese perservered and dominated their rookie seasons in the WNBA. Multiple times when Clark's Indiana Fever and Reese's Chicago Sky faced each other, WNBA viewership numbers were broken. Longtime and new WNBA fans wanted to tune in to witness the two players who are seen as rivals play.
More of the Latest Around WNBA
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Caitlin Clark Dishes on Why It's O.K. She and Angel Reese Are 'Not Best Friends'.
