The WNBA is gaining attention week after week, embracing the rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, after they battled each other for the first time on 1st June.
The dramatic game was followed by another battle on June 15th, in which the Indiana Fever defeated the Chicago Sky once again.
However, that did not stop Reese from taking the role of a “villain“, in her journey against Clark. The fans absolutely love it. But what does Chicago Sky owner Dwyane Wade have to say about it? Is he interested in the hero-villain storyline in the WNBA?
The Miami Heat icon is happy about the attention that the WNBA is receiving. The rise in viewership when compared with the previous season is humongous. That puts a smile on Wade’s face, but this hero-villain storyline, or a rivalry, is not something he entertains a lot. However, Reese already made a stance.
The Chicago Sky forward shared earlier this month after her first game against Clark, “People are pulling up to games, we got celebrities coming to games, sold out arenas…And just looking at that, I’ll take that role. I’ll take the bad guy role, and I’ll continue to take that on and be that for my teammates.” Reese’s role is justified. If she has to be the villain for the WNBA to go to the next level, then so be it. Looks like Wade is also of similar lines.
The 3x champion shared on his podcast, The Wine Down, “I love the moment that we in right here, where we have the storylines…Y’all getting a chance now to see what this league is about. Y’all thought it was soft, wake up. If y’all thought it wasn’t talented, wake up. Now we are thankful, because of the timing of Caitlin Clark’s rise and Angel Reese’s rise. They got their chance to get their hero and the villain.” Wade doesn’t feel a storyline like this is necessary, but, “Movies are built off of it…That’s a storyline that we all love…We got our hero we got our villain, even though it shouldn’t be that way.”
Is Caitlin Clark on the same page as Angel Reese and Dwyane Wade?
Not really. However, there is a common objective for all three of them and it is to take the league to the next level. The Fever and the Sky play for the third time tomorrow this season. Ahead of the much-anticipated game, Clark was asked if it was a rivalry game.
The 22-year-old gave a mature response, “I’m pretty sure the only people that view this as a rivalry is all of you (media). For us, it’s just a game of basketball. That’s what it is.” But then, she also added, “If it’s gonna help move the game forward, absolutely…”
