You couldn’t have written a better script for the WNBA season opener at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever taking on Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky was always going to be a feisty clash. Considering both were coming off a historic rookie campaign for their respective franchises, earning All-Star honors, they obviously wanted to start their season with a statement win over the other. Though it was a 93-58 blowout win in favor of the Fever, the game didn’t disappoint in terms of passion and pure entertainment. However, the one thing that dominated post-game talk was a heated moment between Reese and Clark. And it only grew bigger thanks to a controversial take from Robert Griffin III.

Midway through the third quarter, something happened that sent the whole WNBA world into a frenzy. Cameras captured Fever guard Caitlin Clark delivering a hard contact to Sky forward Angel Reese, who sent her flying on the hardwood. But Reese didn’t stay down even for a second. She got up and immediately started engaging in an argument with Clark as she walked away from the tussle. Meanwhile, during the confrontation, Reese was heard throwing expletives at Clark for her actions.

Later, officials called Clark for a flagrant foul on Reese. And both of them were handed technical fouls. Following the incident, Reese didn’t have much to say about the escalation between Clark and her. She just said, “It’s a basketball play,” and asked everyone “to move on.” However, former NFL quarterback-turned-analyst RG III had a completely different take on the matter. He insisted that Reese hates Clark on a personal level.

“After watching Caitlin Clark’s flagrant foul on Angel Reese and the aftermath, there is now way Angel Reese can continue the lie that she doesn’t dislike Caitlin Clark. I know what hatred looks like. Angel Reese hates Caitlin Clark. Not some basketball rivalry hate either. Hate,” RG III wrote in his X post. Seeing the 35-year-old’s wild take on the matter, another former NFL player chose to voice his opinion. Ex-Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant respectfully bashed RG III for creating unwanted tension between the two.

“Both girls are good in their own right..Caitlin Clark is better than Angel Reese..but saying she hates her is wild. They are playing basketball..bro. It was nothing more or less. You are helping create a negative narrative around Angel Reese..and I don’t respect it, respectfully. You know this is tied into race..and the way you’re playing it is wild. We gotta do better,” Bryant wrote on X, quoting RG III’s controversial tweet.

Well, the former Redskins QB didn’t hold back either. He instead doubled down on his wild take, further bashing Reese. “Respectfully, Angel Reese said she is the villain, refused to answer questions about Caitlin Clark and has celebrated flagrant fouls on Caitlin Clark. I’m not helping create anything. Angel Reese has fed into this with her actions. She needs to do better,” RG III stated.

While there seems to be a vendetta for RG III to condemn Reese’s action, Clark has since voiced her own statement on this incident. And like Reese, she has also made a request to the fans.

Caitlin Clark condemns the WNBA season opener incident with a plea to her fans

When it came to the performance on hardwood, Clark easily dominated Reese on all corners. Once the game finished in Indiana’s favor, Clark ended her outing with a 20-point, 10-rebound, and 10-assist triple-double. Meanwhile, Reese was dominant but not lethal enough like Clark. She recorded a 12-point and 17-rebound double-double. But without any surprise, no one really talked about individual performance. Instead, it was that one incident in the third quarter that became the headline of the WNBA season opener.

Clark told ESPN’s Holly Rowe there was “nothing malicious” behind the foul. While also adding, “Let’s not make it something that it’s not.” However, she also said after the game that the decision the refs gave in favor of Reese wasn’t right at all. “It was just a good play on the basketball. I’m not sure what the ref saw to upgrade it, and that’s up to their discretion. It’s a take foul to put them at the free-throw line. I’ve watched a lot of basketball in my life, that’s exactly what it was. I wasn’t trying to do anything malicious. That’s not the type of player I am.” 

Though Clark didn’t agree with the officials’ decision to award a flagrant foul to Reese. Crew chief Roy Gulbeyan thought otherwise. He later gave his assessment on the controversial foul. “The foul on Clark met the criteria for flagrant foul 1, for wind up, impact, and follow through for the extension of the left hand to Reese’s back, which is deemed not a legitimate basketball play, and therefore deemed unnecessary contact.” At the end of the day, no matter what happened, both Reese and Clark have since moved on from the incident. It could have been just a heated moment where both players lost their heads. That’s why RG III takes on the matter, continues to paint a controversial picture that probably ain’t there anyway.