Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have often clashed against each other in their blossoming careers, but it looks like the rivals will become teammates in an upcoming exhibition.
A team of WNBA stars will take on the U.S. Women’s Olympic team before leaving for Paris, and both Clark and Reese are among the team’s top vote-getters.
Clark, who was controversially snubbed from the Olympic team, has the second-most All-Star votes with 216,427, while Reese is seventh with 118,490.
In reality, the Chicago Sky center ranks even higher among the players who will suit up for the WNBA All-Star team, as A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu are above her, but they will play for the American team.
The game will be played in Phoenix on July 20.
Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark have clashed frequently in their careers.
Reese and Clark appear set to team up on the WNBA All-Star team next month in Phoenix
Clark and Reese, who competed collegiately at Iowa and LSU, have seen their rivalry continue in the pros, with the Sky rookie encouraging a teammate’s body scan of Clark earlier this season.
The two made headlines again last weekend when Reese caught Clark’s face with a hard flagrant foul, although Clark defended it as “part of basketball.”
After that play, former NFL player Robert Griffin III said on X that the pair were being “used in a race war.”
He added that it was “not fair to the athletes or to basketball.”
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith declined to use the “race war” characterization when asked about that phrase on his eponymous show.
Reese recently hit Clark in the head with a hard flagrant foul while going for a block.
“I don’t think so, but it’s a valid question,” he began a segment on the “Stephen A. Smith Show.”
“You could say race, but the reality is there really wasn’t any kind of war 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 shy away from any noise and when you look at that, I think that’s what it’s all about. You can say race, I think it’s styles,” she continued.
Clark’s Fever is 2-0 against Sky this season, and the two teams will meet again on Sunday.
