Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark — two names that created the maximum buzz ahead of their WNBA debut. However, Clark got a better share of media attention for attracting higher viewership for her games while largely impacting WNBA revenue. But one cannot deny that Reese has also been a popular name since her college basketball days. Thus, now with increasing reception of the league, Reese has risen to claim her credit for the contribution, yielding a response from the former NBA star Matt Barnes.

SportsCenter shared an Instagram post featuring Reese’s interview regarding the criticism against her. Reese claimed she could still take all the negativity that has followed her since the National Championship game as long as people are coming to the games with sold-out arenas. “And I know I’ll go down to history, I’ll look back in 20 years and be like… The reason why we watching women’s basketball is not because of one person. It’s because of me, too. And I want you to realize that,” she said. Barnes extended his support to the Chicago Sky star with his comment, “She ain’t lying”.

However, the criticism against the Sky star does not come out of thin air. There have been multiple instances where her alleged feelings against Clark have been on display. One of the most recent ones includes Chennedy Carter’s hard foul against Clark. Reese was seen during the play getting up from the bench and cheering Carter on Clark’s fall to the ground. Even Matt Barnes himself backed Clark, lashing out at Fever’s team for not backing their teammate.

Commenting on an IG post by Bleacher Report, Barnes stated this is something that will happen the entire season. He claimed there will be even more mental and physical tests with cheap shots and elbows for Clark. What he fails to understand is why is her team not backing her against all of this. “… You gotta protect your stars!! She’s been beat up thus far & NO ONE from the @indianafever has done sh!t to have her back. That’s the f$cked up part,” he commented.

So it’s evident Barnes is not siding with anyone but just voicing his opinion on the issue at hand. In fact, this was not the first instance that he came forward in Reese’s support as well.

The time when Matt Barnes defended Angel Reese’s public breakdown

This goes back to when the former LSU star got emotional responding to the hate and how she carried herself. However, this did not sit well with former NFL star Emmanuel Acho, seemingly because Reese is usually all verbal and does not back down from taunting. The above interview where she stated “not just because of one person” was itself a taunt at media attention that Caitlin Clark has been getting.

“You can’t beat a big bad wolf, but then kind of cry like courage the cowardly dog,” Acho had said. But Barnes felt the NFL star was being unfair to Reese. In a video shared by All the Smoke, he argued, everyone is emotional. And of all the people, Reese wears her emotions on her sleeves.

He believes the competitive spirit in a player does not make him or her a villain, but how it is portrayed does. “The media made Angel Reese the villain, just like they made Caitlin Clark the America’s sweetheart,” Barnes stated in the video. As for Reese’s claims about her credit for the league’s rise, she sure has a prominent place for herself, for the books.