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By Alex Kirschenbaum
Contributing Entertainment Writer
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After squaring off in a pair of memorable NCAA Tournament matches, two of the WNBA's starriest rookies this season are rivals once again, this time at the pro level.
Iowa Hawkeyes All-American sensation-turned-Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, and LSU Tigers national champion-turned-Chicago Sky power forward Angel Reese, the No. 7 pick this year, met for the first time representing their respective new clubs on Saturday. Clark survived some controversial hard-fouling to steer her Fever to their first victory of the still-young 2024 season, a 71-70 decision in Indiana.
The Fever are currently 2-8 on the year, while Reese's similarly-rebuilding Sky are 3-4.
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In 30 minutes for Chicago, Reese scored eight points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field, pulled down 13 boards, dished out one dime, and swiped a steal. On the season, the 6-foot-3 rookie is averaging 10.9 points on a less-than-ideal 33.8 percent field goal shooting and 70.2 percent free throw shooting, nine rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 steals.
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For her part, Clark scored 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the floor (2-of-9 from long range), 1-of-1 shooting from the charity stripe, eight rebounds, six assists (against five turnovers), and one steal. Through her first 11 games as a pro, the 6-foot guard is averaging 15.6 points on a .357/.297/.896 slash line, 6.4 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and one block per game.
During an extensive postgame conversation with local Chicago broadcaster WGN News, Reese spoke at length about her rivalry on the floor with Clark — and how she views her own impact on the stunning growth of WNBA interest this year.
"It all started with the [2023] national championship game. I've been dealing with this for two years now, and understanding, 'Yeah, negative things have probably been said about me,' but honestly, I'll take that, because look at where women's basketball is," Reese said. "People are talking about women's basketball that you never would think would be talking about women's basketball. People are pulling up to games, we've got celebrities coming to games, sold-out arenas, just because of one single game. 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 for my teammates."
The WNBA has become a major topic across a lot of sports media, garnering a higher level of interest than seemingly any prior moment since its 1997 inception. Clark, the most prolific scorer in the history of college basketball (across men's and women's hoops), has been a big reason behind that, but she's not alone in a starry rookie class, amidst a steadily growing league.
Reese next pivoted towards making her larger point.
"The reason why we're watching women's basketball is not just because of 1 person. It's because of me, too. I want y'all to realize that," Reese added.
After just five home contests during the Clark era, for instance, the Fever shattered their home attendance for all of the 2023 season, per Across The Timeline. Their 82,857 total patrons (an average of 16,571 fans per) mark thus far has trounced their 81,336 fan tally, in 20 games, last year. The Sky's average attendance of 8,255 fans per game also represents a significant improvement over their 7,241-fan average in 2023, prior to the arrival of Reese and 2024 NCAA champion Kamilla Cardoso.
The Sky-Fever matchup on ESPN was the fourth-most watched WNBA game across the past 22 seasons, averaging 1.5 million viewers, according to Matt Johnson of Sportsnaut.
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