These days, the connection between Clark and Reese is riddled with negativity and drama. It wasn’t always that way, though.

Back in the day, Clark and Reese had nothing but kind sentiments to share about each other whenever they had the opportunity.

As a reminder, both female basketball players started gaining traction during the 2023 national championship game. At the time, Reese was playing for LSU and Clark was playing for the Hawkeyes.

The intensity of the game paired with the unparalleled talent from both Reese and Clark attracted a massive audience that most women’s college basketball games never received before.

In fact, more than 12.6 million viewers were tuning in to catch a glimpse of Clark and Reese handling business on the court.

In October of that year, Reese spoke kindly of Clark at a media event for LSU saying “Oh my gosh, I love Caitlin. We’ve been competing since we were in AAU.

It was always fun, always competitive. One day, hopefully, we could even be teammates. She is a great player, shooter, person and teammate. I don’t care about anything that’s negative.

When you know the person and what their genuine intentions are, being able to know that we did something big, that we grew women’s basketball. That’s all that matters.”

When Reese was heavily criticized for trash talking Clark after a major LSU win, Clark sat for an interview with ESPN saying, “I don’t think Angel should be criticized at all.

No matter which way it goes, she should never be criticized for what she did. I’m just one that competes, and she competed. I think everybody knew there was going to be a little trash talk.

It’s not just me and Angel. That should never be torn down. That should never be criticized because I believe that’s what makes this game so fun. That’s what draws people to this game. That’s how I’m going to continue to play. That’s how every girl should continue to play.”

So, what went wrong between these two after they were quoted showcasing so much mutual support for each other?