The WNBA is not being shy about its new favorite rivalry between Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever and Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky.
Indiana and Chicago will play five times in the regular season, once a month from May through September. The second season in the WNBA for both Clark and Reese begins Saturday afternoon when their teams square off in Indianapolis.
Both players went through growing pains as rookies before leaving their marks on the season.
Clark broke the WNBA’s single-season assist record (337) and the rookie scoring record (769 points). Reese had set the league record for rebounds in a single season at 446 — a rate of 13.1 per game — before a late-season wrist injury cut her season short by six games. MVP A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces then surpassed Reese’s rebound total by five.
The stars’ exploits did not translate into deep playoff runs, and now both franchises are starting fresh with new head coaches. Chicago (13-27, no playoffs in 2024) turned to Tyler Marsh, who hopes to unlock more of his power forward’s playmaking potential.
“We don’t want Angel Reese to be just a rebounder because she’s so much more than that,” Marsh said at the club’s media day. “The rebounding will always be there.”
Indiana (20-20) was swept in the first round by the Connecticut Sun and replaced head coach Christie Sides with Connecticut’s coach, Stephanie White, who previously led the Fever in 2015-16. She’ll be tasked with making Clark even more lethal than before.
“From a straight basketball perspective, making sure that we help (Clark) diversify her finishing ability, diversify in a way that it’s not predictable,” White said on the Good Follow podcast.
Clark is just 23, but she isn’t keen on waiting around for team success in the pros. Asked what her definition of success will be in 2025, she put it succinctly: “A championship.”
Reese and the Sky would love to get in the way of those goals. Reese already has a college national championship on her resume where Clark does not, after LSU beat Iowa for the 2023 title.
The Sky used a first-round draft pick to add Hailey Van Lith, Reese’s one-time LSU teammate. They brought back longtime point guard Courtney Vandersloot and acquired former All-Star guard Ariel Atkins. They still have 6-foot-7 Kamilla Cardoso at center.
The Fever added experience around Clark and 2023 top draft pick Aliyah Boston. The biggest name in the fold is forward DeWanna Bonner, who is seven points away from becoming the WNBA’s No. 3 all-time scorer.
“She’s been tremendous not only as a leader, but she’s a tremendous basketball player, too,” Clark said of Bonner, per the Indianapolis Star. “She’s won championships, she knows what it is, so when she speaks, everybody listens.”
–Field Level Media
