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As the 2025 WNBA season kicks off, all eyes will be on reigning Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark once again. She leads the new-look Indiana Fever into their home opener against Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky on Saturday. The animosity between Clark and Reese followed them from their college clashes and has created one of the more entertaining rivalries in the league today.
For Clark, however, the rivalry doesn't affect how she approaches the game, according to Front Office Sports' Colin Salao. However, she does appreciated how rivalries improve the game.
Caitlin Clark, asked about the rivalry with the Chicago Sky, tells a hilarious story about her high school rival.
"I was taught to, growing up, if we were driving by the high school to hold my breath cause I couldn't breathe that air." pic.twitter.com/ysbXI1bzNd
— Colin Salao (@colincsalao) May 17, 2025
“I was taught to, growing up, if we were driving by the high school to hold my breath cause I couldn't breathe that air,” Clark said about what she thinks of rivalries. “Rivalry is great for sport, I understand that.”
She and Reese crossed paths in college and their careers will be intertwined as long as both are in the league. They face off for the first time this season as the unquestioned leaders of their teams, albeit with different supporting casts around them.
When the Fever failed to win a game in the playoffs last season, Indiana's front office went to work. Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell got help in the form of DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, and Sophie Cunningham. The team's focus was bringing in experienced players who can make Clark's life easier offensively.
The Sky took a different approach. They traded Marina Mabrey and let Chennedy Carter walk in free agency to clear the way for Reese to lead. She and Kamilla Cardoso enter their sophomore seasons as the focal point of the team. Chicago also brought in Courtney Vandersloot and Ariel Atkins to balance things out on the court.
Reese offered her own opinion on the matchup with Clark by saying nothing at all. A reporter asked her about comments she made about Clark last season, but Reese brushed it off immediately.
The young stars' clash is a point of emphasis at the beginning of the season. However, both players care more about their teams than their opponents.
