In the wake of Caitlin Clark’s high-profile entry into the WNBA, fellow player Angel Reese has spoken out, asserting her own significant contributions to the league’s rising popularity. Reese’s comments came during a press interaction following the Chicago Sky’s defeat to Clark’s Indiana Fever on Monday, as reported by PEOPLE.
Reese, 22, reflected on the burgeoning interest in women’s basketball, attributing much of the attention to pivotal moments like the national championship game. “I think so many people are watching women’s basketball right now. It all started from the national championship game, and I’ve been dealing with this for two years now and understand that, yeah, negative things have probably been said about me. But honestly, I’ll take that because look where women’s basketball is,” Reese remarked.
She highlighted the widespread engagement with the sport, noting, “People are talking about women’s basketball that you’d never would think would be talking about women’s basketball. People are pulling up to games. We’ve got celebrities coming to games [and] sold-out arenas just because of one single game. And just looking at that, I’ll take that role. I’ll take the bad guy role, and I’ll continue to take that on and be that for my teammates, and I know I’ll go down in history.”
Reese also stressed that the spotlight should not focus solely on one player. “I’ll look back in 20 years and be like: ‘Yeah, the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person, it’s because of me too, and I want you to realize that. Like it’s just not cause of one person. A lot of us have done so much for this game.”
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Drafted seventh overall by the Chicago Sky, Reese and the league’s first draft pick, Clark, have both been under intense scrutiny. Reese’s recent statements come shortly after the WNBA fined her $1,000 for “failing to make herself available to the media for interviews” following a Saturday game, according to The Associated Press. The Sky organization was also fined $5,000 for not ensuring compliance with WNBA media policies.
Addressing the incident, Reese expressed accountability and commitment to media engagement moving forward. “That was something on my behalf that I wasn’t able to do at the moment just because of the timeline of it but [I’m] making sure moving forward I’ll take time out for you guys,” she told reporters.
Reese’s remarks underscore her belief in her role as a key player driving the popularity and growth of women’s basketball, insisting that the sport’s rising profile is due to the collective efforts of many athletes, herself included.
