NO SPACE FOR HATE: CAITLIN CLARK YANKS AN ARM, ANGEL REESE CONFRONTS HER
The rivals almost engaged in a fracas Saturday, which means Clark is tired of being bullied by WNBA opponents, but let’s hope she doesn’t become Draymond Green with her new on-court physicality
Angel Reese swoops back for the offensive rebound, gathers the ball with her left hand and charges toward the basket. Caitlin Clark reaches in and yanks Reese’s arm, knocking the ball loose. Reese is on the floor in Indianapolis and immediately gets up and wants a piece of Clark’s very famous face and maybe her body.
If not for Aliyah Boston preventing chaos by tangling with Reese and pushing away Clark, the WNBA would have had a fracas Saturday between two players who — come on, this is sports, and people are watching — do not like each other. The league is pushing a respectful initiative called “No Space for Hate,” urging players to avoid confrontations. If you recall, Reese and the Chicago Sky made life hellish for Clark as she attempted to avoid hospital beds. This time, commissioner Cathy Engelbert might be staring down Clark as if she’s Draymond Green.
Caitlin, that was dirty. The referees agreed, upgrading a personal foul to a flagrant 1.
Forgive me, Pope Leo XIV, for criticizing the sacred girl so harshly.
“Let's not make it something that it's not,” Clark said after helping the Indiana Fever to an easy debut victory with a triple-double. “It was just a good play on the basketball. I'm not sure what the ref saw to upgrade it, and that's up to their discretion. It's a take foul to put them at the free throw line. I've watched a lot of basketball in my life, that's exactly what it was. I wasn't trying to do anything malicious. That's not the type of player I am. It wasn’t anything like that.”
We are not transforming Clark into anything more than what she is: the most idolized and viewed female athlete of all time. But there’s a side of me, noticing how her arms have gained considerable strength in the weight room, that figures she’s tired of the physicality — remember when Chennedy Carter, then with the Sky, shoved Clark to the hardwood during an deadball inbounds play? Carter plays for Adelitas de Chihuahua, a team in Mexico. Was Reese next for Caitlin, knowing how the two have struggled in competition that transcends a rivalry since college?
Didn’t Clark start the day by saying of her tension with Reese: “You guys love it, that’s for sure,” as well as, “You can decide that. I’ll leave it up to all of you.”
It’s worse than a rivalry. Reese attends the Met Gala in New York, participating in a haute couture fundraiser that brings the world’s most attractive people to a glamorous benefit. Clark has been invited and doesn’t go. In Reese’s mind, she’s about style. In Clark’s mind, she wants to win the MVP and lead the Fever to a championship. This is what Engelbert said about anti-hatred: “As the WNBA continues to grow in popularity and influence, we’re proud to launch ‘No Space for Hate’ — a league-wide initiative to better protect players, preserve the spirit of the game, and affirm the values of our league. We want our arenas, and our social platforms filled with energy and fandom — not hate and vitriol.”
Hate and vitriol happened, no matter what Reese said: “A basketball play. Refs got it right. Move on.” Days earlier, when a writer asked if the sport’s abrupt rise is created by more players than Clark, Reese said: “Next question.” Six hours before the game, the Fever team store had to accommodate a line of people down the street who wanted Clark merchandise. Angel knows. Clark continued to mouth off about the officials.
“And I went for the ball — it’s clear as day in the replay, you watch it. It shouldn’t have been upgraded,” she said. “Again, that’s up to the refs’ discretion. But I appreciate A.B. (Boston) having my back.”
Said crew chief Roy Gulbeyan: “Okay, the foul on Clark met the criteria for Flagrant Foul 1. For wind up, impact, and follow through for the extension of the left hand to Reese's back, which is deemed not a legitimate basketball play, and therefore deemed unnecessary contact. After the foul, there is a physical taunt technical on Boston and a verbal technical on Reese, which offset.”
Hours before the game, new Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot wanted peace. She told the Chicago Sun-Times: “I would hope, more than anything, that it could just be about hoop. I mean, I’m all about a rivalry. And what a great situation — we’re three and a half hours away, two Midwest teams. Like, yes, absolutely, but make it about hoop. That’s it. That’s all it should be about. Two incredible players that came from college happen to be in it — I love it, the storyline is there — but it should be about nothing other than the court stuff.
“I don’t know the extent of it. But from what I’ve heard, it got bad.”
A 93-58 loss won’t make the Sky feel better. Clark had 20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 4 blocks. She wants to be a two-way marvel, not just someone who shoots lasers. “Nobody's going to get anything easy against us," new Fever coach Stephanie White said. “We're going to be a tough defensive team. I thought it was a clear play on the ball (by Clark) as well. One of the points of emphasis is we can't give up. But I thought it was a clear play on the ball.”
The teams play five times this season. We will watch June 7 in Chicago.
Angel Reese, it’s your turn.
Do not slug back.
No Space for Hate.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.