It was prepped to be a Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese battle on Saturday.
The Commissioners Cup matchup between the Fever and Sky was set to be on a CBS national broadcast for that purpose and the game was moved to the Bulls’ United Center to meet the demand of fans.
It wasn’t to be as Clark is still nursing a quad injury suffered last month, but there was still drama between the 2024 Rookie of the Year and the former LSU star during the Fever’s 79-52 win despite Clark not being on the court.
During the third quarter, Reese was called for a travel violation when gathering herself for a shot attempt. Following the call, Clark jumped off her team’s bench and excitedly made the travel motion with her hands.
The broadcast then showed Clark turning toward the crowd and pointing her finger to gesture that the Fever now had possession.
The reaction went viral on social media given the history between the pair that dates back to high school and came into the public eye in college.
It was the second meeting of the season between the Fever and Sky, and the first on May 17 also saw its share of drama.
During the third quarter of that gameafter Reese grabbed an offensive rebound off a miss by teammate Rebecca Allen, Clark gave her a big shove to the floor underneath the basket, preventing Reese from getting off a shot.
Reese immediately got up and went after Clark to send some choice words her way, and they had to be separated by players from both teams.
Clark earned a flagrant 1 after review, and both players were issued technicals.
The Sky went on to lose their fifth game of the season on Saturday, which puts them in the fifth slot of the Eastern Conference and No. 11 in the league.
Reese only scored four points, shooting 2-for-7 from the field, but she grabbed 12 rebounds and added two assists.
Clark, who was recently sidelined at least two weeks with a quad strain that was revealed on Memorial Day, has been very active despite not being on the court.
In her first game on the bench, Clark served as a quasi-assistant coach, giving her opinion to the officials at halftime of the team’s 83-77 loss to the Mystics. The broadcast also noted that Clark initiated a video replay.
At the halftime buzzer, Clark made her way onto the court, pointing toward the floor with a piece of paper in her hand.
She tried to make her point known to two referees before joining an Indiana assistant and pleading to one referee before walking off the court.
