Shakira Austin weighs in on the effect Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese feud had on WNBA

Washington Mystics center Shakira Austin is speaking out on the harm of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese’s feud impacting other WNBA players.  Clark currently plays for the Indiana Fever and Reese is a guard for the Chicago Sky but basketball stars who both had a breakout freshman year in the WNBA last season, began their sports rivalry back in college. Clark was at Iowa and Reese attended LSU.

“We’re always going to feel like we have to deal with ignorant people,” Austin told Us Weekly. “Unfortunately, as women we’re just on the back end of that stick. We just keep fighting and trying to find our real communities, trying to find people who support us. In a sense, just ignoring those trolls.”

Austin, who was the third overall pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft and now plays for the Washington Mystics, shared that negative discourse about the sport has only heightened.

“It’s gotten worse in the past year for sure. You know, the whole Caitlin and Angel thing. It’s getting pretty bad,” Austin added.

A lot of the conversations surrounding the WNBA have included Reese and Clark in the past year, but many think pieces on the topic have claimed there has been a difference in how these two players have been covered. Reese, who is Black, and Clark, who is white, have led fans to claim a racial bias has been presented when discussing the athletes in favor of Clark. Austin revealed that even parents have wanted to fight back against users on the internet who unfairly critique the WNBA players.

“It’s getting tiring seeing the same annoying comments,” Austin admitted. “I get calls from my Dad all the time. He’s like, ‘Oh my God, I want to say something to this little troll so bad.’ I’m like, ‘Dad, no. Just ignore them.’”

Austin concluded. “Honestly with the growth of the game, we’re unfortunately dealing with even more of a fight with accepting us and understanding us.”

Angel Reese Weighs In On Caitlin Clark Rivalry

Reese spoke about the rivarly between she and Clark last year when speaking to Complex’s Speedy Morman

“I think it’s just competition, it’s been competition since college,” Reese said at the time. “Being able to play against Caitlin, I’ve been playing against Caitlin since we were probably in eighth or ninth grade. We both were really competitive in AAU. I went to Maryland, she went to Iowa so we competed there and then finally being able to compete in the national championship. People don’t know the legacy of us being able to play against each other for a really long time.”

While discussions about the rivalry can have negative effects, the Chicago Sky rookie is all about the greater cause — expanding women’s basketball.

“Obviously social media is going to put two women against each other,” Reese continued. “I think it’s been something that’s negative, but also positive. I think it shines light on women’s basketball so I’ll take that of being able to be the person that gets the hate but I know that at the end of the day I’m growing women’s basketball and helping women’s basketball.”