As expected, the Angel Reese–Caitlin Clark ‘jealous’ narrative has been getting reactions from the entire basketball community. With the belief that Reese’s comments have been taken out of proportion, the host of UNDISPUTED, Rachel Nichols, couldn’t help but jump in on the matter.
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Visibly flummoxed by the flak Reese has received for her comments, Nichols pointed out that the Chicago Sky star wasn’t wrong at all. She even brought up the fact that the Indiana Fever wasn’t the only franchise to sell their season tickets early to prove her point.
“She’s right in a couple of different ways. The teams that sold out their season tickets early, it wasn’t just the Indiana Fever, it was the Aces, it was the Wings, it was the Atlanta Dream, right? Caitlin Clark is on none of those rosters. So to say ‘she’s the only reason games have sold out’, I mean there is just actual evidence that it’s not true,”
Nichols further compared the Reese-Clark rivalry to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s rivalry in the 1980s. The former ESPN analyst also pointed out that in Bird and Magic’s case, neither of the two legends were accused of being jealous of the other. Yet, the basketball community has failed this WNBA rivalry the same way.
“This whole rivalry does have the potential to grow into the kind of Bird-Magic situation that lifted the NBA… This rivalry has the potential to lift the WNBA. The difference is – with Magic and Bird, no one talked about them being jealous of each other, no one talked about how they were petty and catty. People talked how they were hardnosed and competitive…”
She then admitted that, as a woman, it was frustrating that female athletes weren’t allowed to be competitive with one another without being criticised for it.
“It’s frustrating that women aren’t allowed to be that way. Why can’t they be competitive and hardnosed and aggressive?”
Angel Reese is right about her role in the W’s popularity surge & how Caitlin Clark can absolutely be the BIGGEST reason without being the ONLY reason. Now if some folks could just stop making every Angel/Caitlin interaction into an episode of The Kardashians, we’d be in business pic.twitter.com/NQni70LqMO
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) June 4, 2024
The 50-year-old analyst then requested fans to refrain from overreacting to the interactions taking place between the two and turn their rivalry into “an episode of The Kardashians”.
While Rachel Nichols’ opinion will hardly go down as the popular kind in the basketball community, the facts she has presented are irrefutable. Angel Reese has hardly covered herself in glory. However, perhaps she is owed more credit than what has been given to her so far by the basketball community.
Of course, the public discourse around her name won’t change unless and unless more big names like Rachel Nichols speak up on her behalf.
What other personalities think about the Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark interactions
Like Rachel Nichols, Elle Duncan also used her platform to speak against the victimizing of Caitlin Clark. While pointing out the same, the ESPN analyst compared the difference in treatment received by Clark and Angel Reese.
“Nobody said that Alyssa Thomas was out to get Angel Reese when she very clearly, Flagrant 2, grabbed her, threw her to the ground, and was ejected from the game. No one came to Angel Reese’s defense. Not a single person,” Duncan said on her show.
While it’s great to see certain analysts defend Angel Reese from nasty naysayers, the general consensus believes Reese is simply jealous of the money and recognition that her fellow rookie has been subjected to.
Shaquille O’Neal was among the most esteemed personalities to agree with this narrative. He shared a clip of Shannon Sharpe’s rant regarding the same topic, criticizing the WNBA for targeting Caitlin Clark.
“It’s exciting for the WNBA and its players, but that play there, nah, we can’t be doing that. That’s unacceptable. Tell me when the last time all these players have been in the league all this time, name all the prominent players and tell me the time the WNBA has had this much buzz,” Sharpe said.
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Through all the noise, it’s been great to see how Caitlin Clark has decided to not create any more controversy. Putting her professionalism on display, the sharpshooter is avoiding any further beef with Reese by staying silent on the matter.
