By DOUG FEINBERG
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PHOENIX (AP) — Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese will once again step into the spotlight during All-Star Weekend with their matchup against the U.S. Olympic team.
They’ll get to team-up for the first time on the WNBA All-Star team after being rivals in college. Reese’s LSU squad topped Clark’s Iowa team for the national championship in 2023. The Hawkeyes knocked out the Tigers this past year in the Elite Eight.
While there has been so much hype on the pair entering the WNBA, the duo has shown they can compete with the best players in the league. That’s helped show that this isn’t just a moment for the WNBA, but a larger movement for the sport.
Clark was quick to deflect that the movement is more for all of women’s sports than just basketball.
“I definitely think it’s much more than women’s basketball. I think you look across the board at all women’s sports, and people are really invested in it and show up for it,” she said. “Obviously, women’s basketball has kind of been at the forefront of all of it. And for good reason, as it should across the board, whether it’s college women’s basketball or the WNBA. The talent level has been really good.”
While both Clark and Reese have both been challenged through physical play on the court and and a lot of outside noise off the court through their rookie season, they’ve flourished.
“I told Angel at the draft that I’m not trying to put anything heavy on her, but this league depends on you playing, you know well. And she understood, she understood that things weren’t going to be handed to her,” WNBA union president Nneka Ogwumike said. “I think that’s why she’s doing well. I think there were a lot of naysayers and I think there was a lot of debris coming Caitlin’s way and they’ve handled it well.”
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The pair have helped the league to record ratings and attendance through the first part of the season, building on what they both achieved in college. Clark finished as the NCAA’s Division I scoring leader all-time and Clark won an NCAA championship at LSU.
The pair’s success so far in their rookie season in the WNBA potentially helped increase the value of the WNBA for it’s new media right’s deal that is worth a reported $2.2 billion over 11 years.
“They are handling it the best that they can and it’s always good that they can back it up,” said Aces’ star A’ja Wilson. “To actually be good at what they do is important because it wouldn’t be good if they weren’t and no one wants to see you play.”
Reese is currently leading the league in rebounding and Clark is tops in assists. She just broke the league’s single-game assist mark with 19 against Dallas in Indiana’s last game before the Olympic break. Reese broke the WNBA record for consecutive double-doubles in a season already.
“I never would have dreamed that I would have been playing in the All-Star Game as a rookie,” Reese said.
The Sky’s star rookie hit the halfcourt shot at the end of practice.
Brittney Griner was part of the last group of college players that had major hype around them back in 2013 with Elena Delle Donne and Skylar Diggins-Smith. The trio have had stellar WNBA careers, but didn’t move the needle the same way that Clark, Reese and the rest of this rookie class have so far.
“We saw what they could do and why wouldn’t it translate over?” Griner said. “They put in all the hard work and they do everything. They’re not just running on media they, they actually play hard too. I’m just happy that there’s validation for all those people that had doubts.”
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
