Angel Reese shows true colors with admission after eclipsing Caitlin Clark

Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark are two of the WNBA’s biggest stars, yet much has been made of the pair’s relationship following a notorious incident at the 2023 NCAA Championship game

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese has admitted that the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship game – where LSU beat Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes – changed her life.

Reese and Indiana Fever guard Clark’s hooping skills crossed with their personalities have helped the WNBA reach audiences it perhaps has not encountered before.

However, since both stars made the jump to the big leagues from collegiate level, talk of their intense rivalry has not gone away – a rivalry many feel was truly born on the night of the 2023 game.

“Damn I won a natty (NCAA) 2 years ago today & it changed my life forever,” Reese said on Thursday. Despite claiming that victory over Clark was the springboard for her stratospheric success, the 22-year-old’s comment clearly demonstrates a deep respect for the Fever star.

Reese will know better than most just how good of an opponent Clark is and she will be all too aware that beating her Hawkeyes team will always be one of her most pivotal achievements. However, the 2023 game has gone down in infamy for a clash between the two.

In the closing minutes of the game, Reese unleashed a gesture at Clark. Made famous by WWE icon John Cena, Reese aimed the ‘you can’t see me’ hand movement at the Iowa star just as the Tigers were about to seal their famous 102-85 victory.

The 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketbal championship game was famed for the gesture made by Angel Reese to Caitlin Clark ( 
Image:
Photo by Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
Cena would use the signal as a way to show opponents that he moves too fast for them. However in Reese’s case, she embellished the taunt by pointing to the finger where she planned to wear her championship ring.

In the aftermath of the game, Clark leapt to the defence of Reese after the shooting guard’s on-court antics. “I don’t think Angel should be criticised at all.” she told ESPN. “No matter what way it goes, she should never be criticised for what she did. I competed, she competed.”

In a candid chat with Complex, the Chicago talent has since opened up about her relationship with Clark, pouring water on any talk of a rift. “I think it’s just competition and competition since college,” Reese said.

“I’ve been playing against Caitlin since we were probably in eighth or ninth grade. We were both really competitive, I went to Maryland, she went to Iowa and we competed there, so people don’t know the legacy of us being able to play against each other for a really long time.

Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark will face off again when the new WNBA season starts in May
 

“Obviously social media is going to pit two women against each other and I think that it’s something that’s been negative but also positive. I don’t have any hard feelings toward her and she doesn’t have any hard feelings towards me, it’s just basketball and it gets crazy sometimes.”

The 6′ 3″ forward followed up her impressive college career with a historic rookie campaign in the WNBA, making the All-Star team, the All-Rookie team, and leading the league in rebounds per game. Meanwhile Clark took home Rookie of the Year.

As fate would have it, the duo will have a chance to ignite their rivalry when the WNBA season gets underway on May 17 with the Sky and Fever meeting in their opening game of the 2025 season.