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While Caitlin Clark is generally agreed upon as the main draw behind women's basketball's furious surge in popularity recently, Angel Reese deserves her respect, too. The two's competitive rivalry from college has carried over into the WNBA, and the league is better off because of it.
NBA retiree Carmelo Anthony, basketball commentator Monica McNutt, and comedian The Kid Mero went back and forth about the magnitude of the rivalry, via the 7PM In Brooklyn podcast (by Wave Sports and Entertainment).
MERO: “…but is the W[NBA] having its Magic and Bird moment right now? Where it's just like, we're going to prop up these two stars…y'all are going to go head to head…whatever drives interest and eyeballs.”
MCNUTT: “So I think women's college basketball absolutely had that moment when those two [Clark and Reese] were at Iowa and LSU. The fact is though, the Sky and the Fever are…we're going to say rebuilding their pro teams…and so far Caitlyn continues to drive viewership, as does Angel…”
ANTHONY: “… I always say it as a player and somebody who's been in the game for 20 years — as a rookie, it doesn't matter how nice you are, you gotta wait your turn and everybody's going to go at you because you are who you are. So what we’re going to fall in love with is how you sustain that, how you come out of that…It is time to come to see that even with Angel, I love Angel, right but you guys are the faces of this. You said the ‘Magic and Bird’ of this era going into the WNBA. We got to see if y'all going to sustain that and stand the test of time…”
Did Anthony downplay the significance of this cultural moment in basketball? Or is he right in wanting to see how it all plays out long-term?
Clark and Reese can be the Magic and Bird of the WNBA, but they do need to show longevity
It is worth acknowledging there are parallels between the Reese-Clark and Bird-Magic rivalries. As McNutt pointed out, both situations helped the respective leagues increase viewership dramatically. Both pairs of players shared multiple years in the spotlight, going head-to-head as they duked it out on top.
However, in Reese and Clark's case, the majority of their rivalry at this point was in college. Bird and Magic were on top of the NBA for many years, so basketball fans need to let more time pass before comparing history to the present.
With that being said, Reese's recent comment regarding Clark did re-ignite the rivalry discourse, via Bleacher Report's Andrew Peters.
“The reason why we're watching women's basketball is not just because of one person,” Reese said. “It's because of me, too. I want y'all to realize that.”
Clearly, Reese doesn't feel like she gets the credit she deserves, especially considering the fact that her LSU team beat Clark's Iowa squad in the 2023 NCAA Tournament Final.
Once the two starlets have epic bouts in the WNBA playoffs over the coming years, then they may finally be able to put themselves on the same mantle as Magic and Bird.
