WNBA and media need a better story than Clark-Reese rivalry
The WNBA season is two days old and already the hype machine is busy pitting Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark against the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese.
The Fever beat the Sky by 35 on a nationally televised game Saturday on ABC. Clark had a triple-double.
What were the headlines?
“Angel Reese made an honest admission about Caitlin Clark foul that got her heated” — Sports Illustrated.
“Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark have heated exchange after hard foul during Sky-Fever game” — Fox News.
“Tempers flare after Caitlin Clark’s flagrant foul on Angel Reese in wild scene in WNBA opener” — New York Post.
And on and on
The national news media is pathetic in most contexts these days, but the sports media is an especially egregious collection of sycophants and click baiters.
The reality is the game wasn’t that competitive. Hey, why not stir up the “these women hate each other” story?
The media has pushed this narrative since Reese’s Louisiana State bested the Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2023 national championship game.
Clark fans were offended by Reese’s in-your-face celebration at the end of the game.
Reese kept trying to get Clark’s attention by pointing to her ring finger, on which would soon be the championship ring.
Reese mimicked Clark’s hand-over-the-face routine, which is a bizarre gesture, but I’m an old man and rarely know what young people are talking about.
Saturday, the Fever played Chicago. Indiana won, but all the media could talk about was a a foul that had little do with the outcome of the game.
Reese got inside the lane and had an easy layup coming. Clark went for the ball and got both Reese’s arms. Reese went down.
Reese got up jawing. Clark walked away. Fever center Aliyah Boston blocked Reese from following Clark.
Clark ultimately received a flagrant foul. Boston got a technical.
Intentional or otherwise, Clark made a smart basketball foul. Better to make Reese earn two at the line than have an easy bucket.
The whole thing would have been a nothing burger in the men’s game, but this the WNBA and the media just can’t stop itself from covering the sport like a daytime soap opera.
There is a creepy need amongst the media and some fans to push this rivalry between Clark and Reese.
Sure, the men’s game had plenty of personality clashes. Russell vs. Chamberlain. Magic vs. Bird. LeBron vs. Curry. Jordan vs. everybody.
When the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons played in the 1980s, there was almost a guaranteed fistfight. People loved it.
With the women’s game narratives, it feels different.
It feels creepy. Creepy like dudes who make random “jokes” about girl-on-girl action.
It plays on the old trope of all women in competition with one another to the point of hair-pulling and scratching out each other’s eyes.
The whole story is boring and it distracts from the quality of the game. The WNBA has never been better or more interesting.
I was looking forward to this WNBA season more than the baseball season. I haven’t watched a minute of the NBA playoffs, but I’ll be watching every Fever game that I can catch.
The WNBA and its media partners need a better strategy to sell the game than girl fights.
Let the play do the talking. The game tells a better story.
Daniel P. Finney is a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative, but don’t hold that against them. Please visit their page to view a full roster of writers and consider subscribing to their columns. Writing is hard work; people ought to get paid for it. If you enjoy it, throw them a couple of bucks. They earned it. But subscribe to me first, because I’m a ruthless, money-grubbing capitalist like that.
Totally agree with you Dan. Lucky to see the game and knew that foul would become "the" talking point. Media plays to the low denominator. There was much more to the game than that foul. Fever team work was "the" story.
Dan, but not on this one.
Has Bird-Magic vibes and helps bring eyeballs.
I think CC and Reese actually respect each other, like Larry and Magic.