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The Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark rivalry has different section closed aft the WNBA recovered that claims of hateful code toward Reese by Indiana Fever fans were "not substantiated."
The 2 young phenoms person been tied astatine the hep since they faced disconnected successful the 2023 nationalist title game, wherever Reese's LSU Tigers defeated Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes, and successful the closing moments, Reese deed Clark with a "you can't spot me" taunt.
It was a determination that Clark took successful bully fun, saying Reese should not person been "criticized astatine all" and pointing astatine the quality of competitiveness.
But aft a flagrant foul by Clark against Reese connected Saturday, each the anterior speech from each jock astir a deficiency of a rivalry seemed to falter.
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Indiana Fever defender Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky guardant Angel Reese (Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)
However, erstwhile ESPN big Jemele Hill said fans are looking excessively heavy into Reese and Clark, adjacent if they bash really "hate each other."
"This is yet a speech astir taste competency. Angel Reese’s precise beingness rubs a batch of radical the incorrect way. No 1 knows for definite however she feels astir Caitlin Clark, but what we bash cognize from Angel Reese’s ain nationalist comments is that she feels a mode that she isn’t fixed much recognition for however she besides has added to the popularity of women’s hoops successful this moment," Hill said successful a YouTube video connected her channel successful a conception called "Spolotics."
Hill besides said Black athletes are much often "portrayed negatively by the media" than White athletes.
"If Black athletes are confident, they're considered cocky and arrogant. If they talk their mind, they're considered troublemakers oregon ungrateful – aforesaid tropes, antithetic day," Hill added.
But Hill said the Reese-Clark "rivalry" should beryllium treated similar each different sports rivalry.
Indiana Fever defender Caitlin Clark, left, fouls Chicago Sky guardant Angel Reese. (Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)
"In sports, we emotion drama. We emotion the thought of athletes having to spell done something. … We besides emotion fiery competitors and athletes who speech their s--t and backmost it up. But erstwhile it comes to women, oregon much specifically these 2 women, we are struggling to spot them arsenic conscionable 2 highly competitory athletes who often are successful a presumption of having to vie for the aforesaid things," Hill said. "For immoderate reason, erstwhile it comes to Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, we simply garbage to presumption their competitiveness done that aforesaid lens. Maybe they hatred each other, possibly they don’t. But I privation america to postgraduate to a constituent wherever whether oregon not they similar each different is utterly irrelevant."
"Angel Reese is not the villain successful Caitlin Clark’s story, nary much than Caitlin Clark is the savior successful hers. Every enactment betwixt them is not a deliberation piece. If determination are hard fouls, unsmooth connection and things get spicy, truthful beryllium it. If you person nary occupation erstwhile antheral athletes vie hard against 1 different oregon exposure their pettiness, bash america each a favour and use that aforesaid vigor truthful we tin really bask this WNBA season."
Indiana Fever defender Caitlin Clark (Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)
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Reese erstwhile claimed that accrued viewership successful women's hoops was "because of me, too" and "not conscionable 1 person." She besides precocious reposted a TikTok that claimed she was "unsafe" portion playing successful Indiana, and she erstwhile besides said Fever and Iowa fans had been racist toward her.
Clark and Reese were teammates successful the WNBA All-Star Game past year.
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