The third iteration of the Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark rivalry went down on Sunday as the Chicago Sky defeated the Indiana Fever for the first time in their third try.
Reese made sure her team gutted out this win with one of the best performances yet, scoring a career-high 25 points and grabbing 16 rebounds to lead the Chicago Sky to a thrilling 88-87 comeback victory over the Fever as they had their four-game win streak snapped.
The following day, Magic Johnson took to his X account to compare the budding rivalry between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark to his rivalry with Larry Bird.
He mentioned that their college matchup set all-time viewership records in the NCAA Championship, just as the LSU Tigers and Iowa Hawkeyes did in 2023.
“When I think about Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese’s impact on the game, they remind me a lot of Larry Bird and me,” Johnson wrote on social media. “Our first meeting, Indiana State vs. Michigan State, in the NCAA Championship set the all-time viewership record for men’s basketball. Caitlin and Angel’s 2023 NCAA Championship matchup and their 2024 Elite Eight games were the highest viewership records at the time.”
In the latest matchup, where Reese recorded a double-double for the eighth consecutive game, extending her WNBA rookie record, Caitlin Clark also set a record in a losing effort.
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Through three quarters on Sunday vs. Chicago, Caitlin Clark was having the best passing game of her young WNBA career, and by the time she had finished the game, she had set a record.
Clark set Indiana Fever’s single-game record with 13 assists.
Caitlin Clark Pours Cold Water on ‘Rivalry’ With Angel Reese
Much has been made of the dynamic between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, but one of them has had enough of it.
The two WNBA rookies have been stealing headlines ever since Reese taunted Clark with a “you can’t see me” celebration and pointed at her ring finger in the closing seconds of LSU’s title victory over Iowa.
Despite the storylines, Clark is not in agreement that there is a rivalry.
“I’m pretty sure that the only people who view this as a rivalry is all of you,” Clark told reporters after her Indiana Fever beat the Atlanta Dream on Friday via The NY Post. ‘For us, it’s just a game of basketball. That’s what it is. If it’s going to help move the game forward, then absolutely. That’s amazing. That’s what it should be. People can talk about it.”
