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The college rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese carried into the WNBA when both the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky draftees enjoyed productive rookie years. The drama between the two bubbled to the surface again this season when Clark was called for a flagrant foul on Reese, which sparked an altercation between their two teams.
Naturally, their similarities as high-profile players who attracted unprecedented attention to women’s basketball place them in conversations together, and fair or not, lead to comparisons to one another. Last year’s Rookie of the Year race only added fuel to the debate as Clark battled with — and eventually pulled away from — Reese in what was, for much of the season, a close fight.Â
WNBA legend Candace Parker, however, pushed back on the constant discourse that divides the two.
“I just think that it’s like comparing apples and oranges,” Parker said on the “Spolitics” podcast. “Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, it’s like, what are we doing? They like doing the Magic and Bird comparison; well, they played similar positions. Bird wasn’t a point guard, but he played the guard position. They at least kind of match up. This? What are we doing? I’m not falling into that. I’m not into the comparison.”
Clark hit the pause button on her 2025 season when she sustained a quad injury just four games in. She has already missed half of the young season, snapping a streak of 185 consecutive games without an absence dating back to her freshman year at Iowa. Her second WNBA campaign was off to a stellar start, though: she averaged 19 points, six rebounds and a league-best 9.3 assists in her four outings.
Reese took criticism across her first seven games of the year as her field goal percentage dipped to 30.9%, down from the 38.0% mark she logged as a rookie. The prolific rebounder still averages 12.3 boards per contest but is shy of the double-double pace she dazzled with in 2024. Her sophomore slump includes low efficiency in the paint and by far the lowest conversion rate on shots attempted inside the restricted area.
“I think there are a number of things that Angel can improve on, will improve on in the situation she’s in,” said Parker. “And I think Caitlin Clark has done that, even in her first year, in terms of being able to be that floor general.”
Clark and Reese dueled twice in the NCAA Tournament prior to their arrivals on the professional stage, and they split the two-year series at a game apiece. Reese’s LSU squad defeated Clark’s Iowa team in the 2023 national championship, and the result reversed in the 2024 Elite Eight.
