Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have helped shape a new era of the WNBA, with their rivalry proving a catalyst for the league’s burgeoning popularity.
This storied rivalry began during their college years, and has continued on the WNBA stage.
A Look Back at How Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese’s Rivalry Started
Clark and Reese have been competing against each other since they were just 14 years old. Their rivalry exploded at the 2023 March Madness national championship game, where the LSU Tigers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes, with Angel Reese recording 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Clark scored 30 points in that game, but it wasn’t enough to stop the dominant Tigers in their tracks.
In the closing stages of that game, Reese followed Clark down the court and taunted her by doing the “you can’t see me” gesture. She also pointed to her ring finger to celebrate the Tigers’ triumph in the national championship game. This was the match that lit their rivalry and went on to help transform women’s basketball.
The two met again in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament the next year, with Clark scoring 41 points and 12 assists to help Iowa down LSU. The game attracted an average attendance of 12.3 million viewers as basketball fans tuned in to watch the highly anticipated rematch.
The feud continued as Clark and Reese were drafted into the WNBA and quickly became two of the league’s leading faces. Clark was named the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year, though one voter cast their ballot for Reese, sparking controversy at the time.
Their matchups have featured high-intensity play, and their meetings often end up among the year’s most-watched. Their contrasting styles of play have also added to their rivalry, making it a major point of contention among their fan bases.
However, they have both stated on numerous occasions that their rivalry is strictly based on on-court competition.
“It’s just competition. We both were really competitive during AAU, I went to Maryland and she went to Iowa. So we competed there, and then competing in national championships, so people don’t know the legacy of us being able to play against each other for a really long time. Obviously, social media is going to put two women against each other. It’s something that is a negative, but also a positive because it shines a light on women’s basketball,” Reese said via Complex in 2025.
As the popularity of both Clark and Reese continues to grow alongside the NBA, fans are looking forward to what comes next in their rivalry. However, both players have consistently maintained that they do not harbor any actual personal animosity toward each other.
