WNBA Commissioner Didn't Hold Back on Controversial Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese Fan Rivalry
There's no doubt that the arrival of rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese to the WNBA has drastically altered the landscape of women's basketball.
The league is experiencing an unprecedented amount of attention this season, which is in large part to these two players; both of whom are backed by massive, passionate fanbases. And given the rivalry between Clark and Reese that stemmed from Reese's iconic taunt of Clark in the 2023 NCAA National Championship game, these two fanbases are often at odds with one another.
While the tribalism sometimes seen among Clark and Reese fans can often enter uncomfortable territory, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert explained where it stems from during a September 9 appearance on CNBC's 'Power Lunch' program.
"Now it seems, on some social media channels, to have taken a darker turn. A more menacing turn," CNBC anchor Tyler Mathisen said to Engelbert about the fan rivalry regarding Clark and Reese. "Where race has been introduced in the conversation, where sexuality is sometimes introduced into the conversation.
"How do you try and stay ahead of that... or act as a league when two of your most visible players are involved — not personally, it would seem, but their fanbases are involved — in saying some very uncharitable things about the other?" he asked.
"Well the one thing that's great about the league right now, we do sit at this intersection of culture, and sports, and fashion, and music. Like, the WNBA players are really looked at now as kind of cultural icons," Engelbert said.
"And when you have that, you have a lot of attention on you. There's no more apathy. Everybody cares. It is a little bit of that Bird-Magic moment if you recall, from 1979," Engelbert added. "When those two rookies came in from a big college rivalry, one white, one black. And so we have that moment with these two.
"But the one thing I know about sports, you need rivalry," Engelbert added. "That's what makes people watch, They want to watch games of consequence between rivals. They don't want everybody being nice to one another."
Engelbert concluded by saying, "I always tell the players... If someone is typing something in [social media] and you wouldn't ask their advice, ignore it.
"It's a balance. But certainly from a marketing dollars, but corporate partners are stepping up to endorse these players much more so than they were five years ago."
WNBA Commissioner, Cathy Engelbert on the toxicity that’s spawned from the Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese rivalry. Seems to me the WNBA media who keeps chastising the fans, is running counter to what the commissioner wants. Let me know what you think. #WNBA #feverrising
— Ken Swift (@kenswift) September 9, 2024
Full… pic.twitter.com/N67HN0n6Vn
Engelbert knows she has two special rookies on her hands, and doesn't want to let any fan sentiments impede the WNBA's growth.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.