Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have had a rivalry since their college careers with Iowa and LSU, respectively, matching against each other in each of the past two NCAA tournaments.

But now the pair are facing off as WNBA rookies, and both have become the center of much broader and more heated discourse. That is out of their control, but Clark says she respects how Reese has utilized her platform:

“I think what she’s done with her platform has been absolutely incredible. She has an entire fanbase that has supported her and what she did at Maryland and then LSU. Obviously, l’ve played her for a very long time, and she’s been a tremendous player. It’s been fun getting to compete against. I think it’s been really good for the game. People just love seeing great matchups, but also, people tune in for these matchups but then they get to see how amazing these teams are. And then they find new players to support and continue to come back for them too. So I think that’s another benefit of it, honestly.”

The Clark-Reese rivalry began in earnest in the 2023-24 women’s National Championship Game, when LSU beat Iowa and Reese hit her counterpart with some sauce:

Clark had her revenge in this year’s Elite 8, however, as Iowa knocked LSU out of the tournament.

This year, Reese’s Chicago Sky has faced Clark’s Indiana Fever twice, with Clark getting the dub on each occasion. The rivalry has titled back in her favor, though Reese’s national championship is still arguably the trump card in the head-to-head matchup.

Off the court, the discourse surrounding the players has gotten… weird. Clark has become a lightning rod without doing much on her own to instigate such back-and-forth venom, with issues such as charter flights, whether or not other WNBA players are gunning too aggressively for her given her popularity and her exclusion from Team USA for this summer’s Paris Olympics dividing opinion on a mainstream scale.

Reese has fanned some of those flames on her own, and her flagrant 1 on Clark during Sunday’s matchup—the Sky rookie attempted to block Clark’s layup attempt but unintentionally hit her in the head during the play, rightfully drawing the upgraded foul—surely will only add more kindling for those inclined to take sides.

Clark, for her part, didn’t seem bothered at all by the play in question.

“It’s just a part of basketball,” she told reporters. “It is what it is. Just trying to make a play on the ball and get the block. It happens.”

Clark and Reese, for better or worse, seem to represent a whole lot more than what they do on the court these days. Some of that is out of their control. But in terms of what is in their control, Clark expressed respect for what Reese has done with her platform on Sunday.