Caitlin Clark insists her shove on Angel Reese was nothing greater than a basketball play and not at all ‘malicious’ after tempers flared between the 2 bitter rivals on the WNBA’s opening weekend.
Throughout a fiery season opener between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky, Clark slapped the Sky ahead throughout the arm after she grabbed an offensive rebound, sending her tumbling to the ground halfway via the third quarter.
Reese was left incensed by the push, leaping again to her ft and making a beeline for the Fever star earlier than her teammates shortly intervened.
Following a replay overview, the referees upgraded Clark’s foul to a flagrant one a lot to her astonishment.
Throughout an in-game interview with ESPN, the reigning WNBA Rookie of the 12 months confused that she was merely doing what each basketball participant would do in the identical scenario.
‘It is only a good take foul,’ Clark mentioned. ‘You recognize, both Angel will get a large open two factors, or we ship them to the free-throw line.
Caitlin Clark insists her shove on Angel Reese was nothing greater than a basketball play
‘Nothing malicious about it. It is only a good take foul. Each basketball participant is aware of that.’
She additionally doubled down on that declare in her postgame press convention, urging reporters to ‘not make it something it is not.’
‘I wasn’t making an attempt to do something malicious. That is not the kind of participant I’m,’ Clark insisted.
‘I went for the ball, and that is clear as day within the replay. You watch it… it should not have been upgraded [to a flagrant foul]. However that is up the ref’s discretion.’
Reese went on to overlook the primary of her two throws, which drew enormous cheers from the Fever crowd inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, earlier than making the second as Chicago added a layup on the following possession to chop the deficit to 56-45.
Nonetheless, Indiana closed the third quarter on a 9-0 run to take an important 65-45 lead, and Chicago by no means actually threatened to stage a comeback within the fourth.
It was Clark who due to this fact had the final snort over her arch-nemesis because the Fever cruised previous the Sky 93-58 to open their account in fashion.
The fierce enemies have introduced their rivalry from the school ranks with them into the large leagues, having famously clashed on the courtroom throughout LSU and Iowa’s NCAA Championship recreation in 2023.
Reese was seething after being despatched tumbling to the bottom by the Indiana Fever sensation
Clark couldn’t consider that her foul was upgraded to flagrant by the referee on the day
In a memorable second, Reese carried out Clark’s trademark ‘You Cannot See Me’ celebration proper in her face as she helped LSU declare victory on the evening.
Final season in addition they went head-to-head for the coveted WNBA Rookie of the 12 months award, with the Indiana sensation in the end popping out on high.
Nonetheless, their competitiveness turned ugly when Chicago participant Chennedy Carter brutally shoved Caitlin to the bottom at one stage within the 2024 marketing campaign, earlier than Angel appeared to stroll away laughing along with her teammate about it afterwards.
Quite a few analysts claimed the frenzy surrounding Clark and Reese had became a race struggle, but they managed to brush all that apart and play collectively in final yr’s WNBA All-Star Sport.
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