Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images
Angel Reese vs. Caitlin Clark remains spicy.
The Chicago Sky rookie forward was called for a flagrant 1 foul after hitting Clark in the head during their matchup on Sunday.
Angel Reese was called for a flagrant 1 for this foul on Caitlin Clark
(via @CBSSports
)pic.twitter.com/8JdiqzD2dC— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 16, 2024
It was an easy call for the officials, as Reese clearly whacked the Indiana Fever rookie across the head while she was attempting a layup.
Normally, that would be the end of the discussion. But given that Reese and Clark have a rivalry dating back to their college days—and given that literally anything involving Clark at this point is accompanied by a society-wide discourse that includes just about everything but basketball—this particular foul divided opinion, though mostly people were bracing for the discussions to follow:
Angel Reese just hit Caitlin Clark with a flagrant now we’re gonna have another week of discourse pic.twitter.com/921v4DX1vo
— dono (@pringlesdon_) June 16, 2024
Angel Reese hard foul on CC, here come the think pieces flooding the TL pic.twitter.com/rnXHsdtZ01
— Teej ⚡️ (@Bitcoin_Teej) June 16, 2024
I ride for Angel Reese & the Sky, but they gotta cool out https://t.co/28DzVexDey
— Ty (@lithordsson) June 16, 2024
While it appeared that Reese was just attempting to block the shot, or making a legitimate basketball play, hitting another player in the head on such an attempt still qualifies as a flagrant 1. It was the right call.
Unfortunately at the moment, WNBA discourse has become a tinder box for hot takes and deeper political agendas, sparked by everything from charter flights to Clark not being included on Team USA for the Paris Olympics this summer.
So the expectation—even after a basketball foul that was rightly upgraded to a flagrant 1—is that Sunday’s exchange between the players will set off more heated discussions.
The rivalry between Reese and Clark is good for the sport. The two will be ambassadors for the WNBA for years to come. A bit of spice livens up those matchups.
As for the rest of the stuff surrounding everything the two seem to do, well, we’re all getting a bit fatigued by those takes and dissertations. Sometimes, basketball is just basketball.
