Woman’s basketball legend Cheryl Miller will lead Team WNBA against Team USA in the league’s All-Star Game this weekend. The role gave her the unique opportunity of becoming the first to coach both Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. The duo have been rivals since college but will team up to take on Team USA. Miller was asked about their rivalry but she refused to fuel the narrative.
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The Hall of Famer claimed she’s content watching them help women’s basketball take a massive leap forward and isn’t interested in their feud. She said,
“I’ve been able to step back and watch from afar. I love and appreciate their rivalry. I love what they’ve done for the women’s game — from the collegiate level to now. It’s working… It was only a matter of time. [There’s] great narratives. Great storylines. And now, the bottom line comes down to one thing: It’s about basketball. It’s about winning.”
Team WNBA coach Cheryl Miller on the “rivalry” between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese:#WNBA #WNBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/Jr7hFIsWPe
— Desert Wave Media (@DesertWaveCo) July 19, 2024
Miller instead used the opportunity to hype both players and lauded them for leading their respective teams. She noted that Clark’s Indiana Fever and Reese’s Chicago Sky are taking giant strides as teams. She claimed that both rosters are improving with each game and could become legitimate threats soon. The Hall of Famer said,
“Both these young ladies and their teams, people don’t want to face them down the stretch. Because now it’s starting to click. It’s clicking in Chicago and it’s starting to click in Indiana.”
The Fever are seventh while the Sky are only a spot below them in eighth in the WNBA standings. Both teams are poised to make the playoffs courtesy of Clark and Reese’s incredible performances. Both players have already etched their names in WNBA history.
Reese set a new record with 15 straight double-doubles, surpassing Candace Parker’s mark of 12 which she set across two seasons in 2009 and 2010. Clark became the first rookie to record a triple-double in the WNBA, and broke the single-game assists record in a game against the Dallas Wings, dishing 19 dimes.
The duo is engulfed in a heated battle for the Rookie of the Year award, which has split the basketball fraternity down the middle. Regardless of which side fans, analysts, and current as well as former players are in this debate, it’s undeniable that Clark and Reese’s rivalry has done wonders for the sport.
