The stage is once again set for a rematch between Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever and Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky. Chennedy Carter’s cheap shot at Caitlin Clark during a previous game earlier in the season has already made the Sky-Fever matchups more interesting. But ahead of her game against the Sky, Clark seemed to discount the whole rivalry thing between the two teams.
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After the Indiana Fever recently took care of business against the Atlanta Dream at the State Farm Arena, Clark took to the post-game presser to answer questions about the team’s upcoming matchup against the Sky on Sunday.
Even though the media has decided to build the narrative of the game on the Clark-Reese rivalry, the Fever rookie clarified that she is just looking at the game as another basketball matchup. She told reporters, “I am pretty sure the only people that view this as a rivalry is all of you( the media). For us, it’s just a game of basketball. That’s what it is and if it [the media hype] helps move the game forward that’s amazing.”
While Clark may not think there is a real rivalry, the money being made off of it is real. Even the 22-year-old commented on how high the ticket prices were.
She was also surprised that the two teams were not playing at the city’s NBA venue, the United Center. Clark added,
“I mean I saw the ticket prices i guess the only thing I am surprised about is that we aren’t playing at the United Center. I thought that would have been really great for the game and would have been great for all the women’s basketball fans in Chicago.”
Caitlin Clark asked about Sunday being a rivalry game vs Chicago:
“I’m pretty sure the only people that view this as a rivalry is all of you (media). For us, it’s just a game of basketball. That’s what it is. If it’s gonna help move the game forward, absolutely…”
Well said. pic.twitter.com/rwpD0jw8Qm
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) June 22, 2024
The United Center has the largest capacity among all NBA stadiums, with a whopping 23,500 total seating capacity. For reference, the Wintrust Stadium[the official stadium of the Chicago Sky] has a total capacity of 10,500, less than half of its NBA counterpart.
It’s a head-scratching decision on the part of the Sky to not host the highly anticipated rematch between the two teams at the United Center. This statement is especially true if one considers the fact that just two weeks back, on June 7th, Clark and the Fever sold out 16K seats in a matter of 30 mins.
Therefore, it’s fair to assume that the Indiana side holds the potential to even sell out the NBA’s largest stadium, and it might take less than a day to do it. However, Clark hinted at some issues that prevented the switch to United Center. Fans would hope that the Chicago authorities resolve those issues before the next time Clark comes to town.
