Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese on same team at WNBA All-Star weekend

PHOENIX — Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese once again will 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 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 expand that movement.

“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.”

Clark and Reese have been challenged through physical play on the court and and a lot of outside noise off the court through their rookie season, but 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.”

The pair helped the league to record ratings and attendance through the first part of the season, building on what they achieved in college. Clark finished as the NCAA’s Division I scoring leader all-time, and Reese won an NCAA championship at LSU.

Their success in their rookie season potentially helped increase the value of the WNBA for its new media rights deal 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,” Aces’ star A’ja Wilson said. “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 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.

Brittney Griner was part of the last group of college players who had major hype around them back in 2013 with Elena Delle Donne and Skylar Diggins-Smith. They 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.

“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 actually play hard too. I’m just happy that there’s validation for all those people that had doubts.”