Angel Reese Appears to Shade Caitlin Clark, Fever in Cryptic Post After Sky’s Win
Evan Yu/NBAE via Getty Images
The Indiana Fever and rookie phenom Caitlin Clark were the first WNBA team to receive a chartered flight this season, as players, coaches and fans continue to push for chartered flights to become the norm.
But after Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky upset the New York Liberty on Thursday night, 90-81, the rookie forward fired off a social media post that appeared to be a shot at Clark:
Angel Reese@Reese10Angel
and that’s on getting a WIN in a packed area not just cause of one player on our charter flight. 😘 <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/SKYTOWN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#SKYTOWN</a>
You’re free to dissect that as you please, but here are a few pieces of context to consider.
One, Reese has already been outspoken about the Sky not receiving chartered flights:
She hasn’t been alone in that regard:
“It’s tough that the season is starting today and we’re still trying to figure out those kinks,” Connecticut Sun guard Dijonai Carrington told CBS Sports earlier in May regarding a number of teams not receiving chartered flights. “But some teams haven’t figured it out. I don’t know. It’s just—not happy about it, especially as a member of the players union.”
So while the goal is to get every team chartered flights in the future, there may be some players who raised their eyebrows at the optics of the highly heralded rookie receiving the first charter flight of the season.
Especially when that rookie’s team has since gone on to lose all five games it has played this season.
Regardless, there’s no doubt that Clark has become a polarizing figure, with LeBron James and Charles Barkley feeling the need to publicly defend her recently:
Barkley’s comments, in particular, drew a response from several current and former WNBA players:
There’s also the history of Reese and Clark to consider. Reese’s LSU Tigers beat Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2022-23 Women’s National Championship Game, with Reese famously hitting the John Cena “face wash” celebration in front of Clark:
Clark had her payback this season, eliminating LSU in the Elite Eight after a legendary performance that saw her score 41 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds. She said she wasn’t seeking retribution, however.
“This was no sort of revenge game for us,” she told reporters. “I feel like if you live in the past too much, it kind of ruins the present. The biggest thing for us was, ‘Worry about Iowa. What does Iowa need to do to win this game?’ I thought we did a really good job of that.”
Clark was always going to hit the WNBA with an extreme level of scrutiny after becoming the all-time leading scorer in college basketball history and bringing new levels of attention and hype to the women’s game. Catching some strays comes with the territory.
