It has been two years since Angel Reese gestured ‘you can’t see me’ at Caitlin Clark, and spectators spewed up the rivalry narrative. You can find people hashing the case now, considering the two don’t even play the same position. But no, the conversations aren’t dying down. Because this isn’t just about their on-court antics. This has become about ‘who’s drawing more eyes’. So, when the matter came back around to Reese, the Chi-Town Barbie had a swift response, and fans had a few opinions on it.

As much as the rivalry was built out of near-to-nothing, it did become a platform for viewership records only imaginable. Start with the 9.9 million during their 2023 championship encounter and see it translate in the pros to 2.3 million, peaking at 3.3– the most-watched in the league. Even beyond, there were arenas selling out and jerseys flying off the shelf. But when the credit was largely focused on Clark, the former LSU Tigress wasn’t having it.

“It’s not just one person, I think people don’t realize that [because] the narrative out there is that just one person changing the game. It’s a lot of us,” she had said. Now as another season resumes and the Fever saw 1.6 million viewership for a preseason game, looks like a reporter was reminded of the instance.

His question was, “Last year you made a powerful statement, that the reason people are watching women’s basketball is not because of just one player but because of you too. A year later do you feel like…” “Next question”, Angel cut him short and moved away from the question. The media manager also agreed with Angel as he said, “Yeah, we will move on, thank you.”

When Reese had made that remark, she had put up a 13-point, 9-rebound performance in a fully packed arena against the New York Liberty. The Chicago star had also seen her contribution to the 500% increase in the jersey sales, and more brand endorsements were soon to follow.

So not everyone is faulting Angel Reese. What they are, is making rivalry out of it and persistently keeping up with the narrative. All Angel wants to do, is limit the dynamic between her and Clark to competitiveness. Because the game is ultimately what this is about.

When Reese was questioned about the rivalry even before entering the WNBA, she set the record straight.“I love that we’re able to compete and still be cool after, regardless of the outside noise,” Angel told WH.“When we get between the lines and we’re ready to compete, we just want to win. That’s just the group of women—we always want to win, and we’re strong and super powerful in everything that we do.” 

Caitlin Clark also constantly spoke about the friction between her and AR when they faced each other on the court. She complemented Reese’s rebounding skills too. But instead of calling themselves rivals of each other, they were leaning more towards the ‘competitive nature’.

Media and fans, on the other hand, gave those competitive athletes colors – Blue and Red. Colors that never take the same stand in the sports world and seen as rivals. So, when Reese was asked for her stand, it was clear – move on from the narrative. Fans, for whom the players take the court and the media covers the games’ aspects, saw the response from Reese. Their views matter and they are widely on similar lines….

Fans are on the same page over Angel Reese’s Answer

Angel Reese’s two-word answer, shutting down the reporter, was well received by the fans. The ‘new’ and the ‘old’ are in sync, as most comments on the video shared applauded the Chicago forward for her stance. “Period! They gotta move on. We are not playing that this year. Let’s ball!” wrote a user. The ‘rivalry narrative was in the news for two seasons, even though the athletes were denying the same. Fans at some points are ‘done’ with the idea of putting CC and AR against each other with no connection to the actual on-court performances. More fans support the athlete’s views and want to watch the ‘ball game’.

Another also followed the line. “That question shouldn’t have been asked. Irrelevant. And I’m a CC Fan.” Clark herself shot down the idea many times. In an interview, she was clear on her views over the rivalry. “The only thing people cared about was this controversy that was really fabricated and made up, and then that has continued to be the case ever since.” 

Many podcasters like Rachel DeMita have pointed out how these narratives are injecting ‘negaivity’ in fans, and it’s unnecessary. It is only right Angel took a firm step to put a full stop to it. One of the fans could predict what it would have stemmed otherwise. “Well, well. She didn’t want that smoke,” the comment read.

One fan lauded Reese for that stance. “Atta Girl, superstar! Grow evolve.” That’s what Angel’s been at. Be it calling out the toxic fans on her podcast rightly named Unapologetically Angel, or so on her X account. Reese knows her worth, she can clap back– remember the time she flaunted her draft pick and W standing when a user had criticised her game? Yeah, the Chi-Town Barbie is here for none of that and her fans are all in for that attitude.

“Great job not falling into the trap this year, move on to the bigger and better things…trying to get better and win titles. Also, you guys can become allies and market this league like crazy while still competing super hard against each other like Bird and Magic,” came a suggestion.

Well, they are half way there. As Caitlin says, they are no best friends, but together, they are making some noise in the league. The comparisons have also been fitting in terms of the impact they have had since Magic and Bird did it in the late 1970s in the NCAA and NBA. The two had drawn 40 million viewers in college and made a declining league prime-time special. So, WNBA and players do have a blueprint for mega success. They might as well use it to the league’s good.