For years, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have been placed at the center of one of the WNBA’s most discussed rivalries. Yet their time together with Team USA at the 2026 FIBA World Cup offered fans something they rarely got to see – the two young stars simply enjoying playing alongside each other. That shift in their dynamic eventually led to one question Clark was clearly not interested in entertaining. Now, the reporter who asked the question has justified his stance.

Fox News reporter Jackson Thompson recently joined NFL insider Dan Dakich for an exclusive interview. Thompson explained his reasons in a clip of the interview posted to X.

“I don’t want to assume why the question upset her. She has a lot of obligations and responsibility as a leader of the sport. But one thing I will say is a fact – a certain fact – is I did not ask the question to be inflammatory or divisive. Quite the opposite, actually. I asked the question because I was genuinely curious about what I had seen that week between the two players, as they looked like friends. And I believed other people should know if they are friends. Because quite frankly, I think there’s a lot of people out there who didn’t know that and didn’t assume that.”

The whole thing began after Team USA defeated France 97-79 to win its fifth consecutive gold medal. Thompson asked Clark whether she and Reese were now friends. And the Indiana Fever star immediately pushed back on the premise.

“We’ve always been friends. Don’t try to do that. Don’t try to do that,” she said.

The response raised several eyebrows, particularly because it appeared to challenge the rivalry narrative that has surrounded the two stars since their college days. But Thompson has explained why he asked the question in the first place, pointing back to something Clark herself said about Reese in 2024.

“When I was researching ahead of the tournament, the history between these two players, they had said a lot of nice things about each other over the years, as most athletes do… But going back to the 2024 Time magazine article when Caitlin Clark won Athlete of the Year, she said, and I quote, ‘We’re not best friends, but we respect each other,’ which is why I was curious now if they were friends. There had not been, unless I’m missing something, there had not been any statements from either of them clarifying that they were friends up until my question to her.”

Thompson is referring to a specific interview back in Clark’s debut year in the WNBA. During her 2024 TIME Athlete of the Year interview, Caitlin Clark addressed the growing narrative around her relationship with Reese. At that time, their rivalry was still fresh after their heated NCAA history and the attention surrounding Reese’s ring-finger gesture during the 2023 NCAA championship game. Clark, however, pushed back against the idea that the two were enemies.

Even Angel Reese had similarly rejected the idea of genuine hatred between them during a Fox News interview earlier that year.

“Me and Caitlin Clark don’t hate each other,” Reese said. “I want everybody to understand that. It’s just a super competitive game.”

Now, those comments established something important: neither player had embraced the idea of an arch-rivalry. But as Thompson pointed out, they also had not publicly described themselves as friends.

Yet during the 2026 FIBA World Cup, they came together as Clark ran the offense and Reese made her presence felt in the paint. They complemented each other towards a common goal, as the two shared several lighthearted moments throughout the tournament. Caitlin Clark, in a September 10 interview with the Associated Press, even praised Reese.

“She’s competitive, and she has a tremendous motor, like she has one of the best motors in the league. She works just as hard as anybody on the court. So, it’s been fun to be able to play with her.”

And Reese echoed that sentiment while speaking with ESPN the same day.

“We can kind of rely on each other, lean on each other. This is our first big national event, so being able to play with each other, learn each other and go through these learning process together, it’s fun.”

So, while Thompson’s question may have caught Caitlin Clark off guard, the curiosity behind it came from a noticeable change. The two stars who had spent years being framed through rivalry were now openly praising one another and looking increasingly comfortable as teammates.

But with the WNBA regular season set to resume on September 17, their friendship will once again exist alongside their competitive relationship. Both the Fever and Dream have reached the playoffs, which means Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese could still find themselves on opposite sides of the court when the stakes are at their highest.