The narrative of rivalry sees no end. Just when we thought the storms had calmed in the East, the WNBA announced its schedule for the 2025 season. No surprise, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese will face off on their opening night. All of their matchups became quite a hype last season with one registering a record-breaking 2.3 million views across all networks—the highest in the last 23 years. After this remarkable milestone, the build-up to the 2025 season can be seen clearly. However, Rachel DeMita disagrees with the idea of the rivalry surviving for too long.

On her namesake podcast, Rachel DeMita states, “The WNBA saw what happened last season and there is still this what I like to think is a manufactured rivalry because I don’t personally think this Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark rivalry is going to last much longer. I don’t think it’s great for either one of them and I think that we saw last season in this Rookie of the Year race that Caitlin pulled away quickly from Angel Reese when it came to skill on the court.”

After the conclusion of the Olympics break, Caitlin Clark stood out with a spectacular performance, averaging 23 points and 8.8 assists over the remaining 14 games. She even led the league in assists (8.4 apg) and set a rookie record for the most three-pointers in a single season, with 86. Not to mention, among the plethora of records she created and broke, she is also the only rookie with a triple-double, and she has two of them.

Meanwhile, Angel Reese suffered a wrist injury that ruled her out for the final stretch of her rookie season, dropping Sky out of the postseason contention. Even the Sky No. 5 delivered spectacular performances throughout the season, leading the league in rebounding (13.1 rpg) while averaging 13.6 points and 1.3 steals per game. Not to mention, her consecutive double-double streak that even led Candace Parker behind. However, it wasn’t enough, as she fell just short of matching the Iowa sensation.

“But that is not saying that Angel Reese isn’t a star in herself. She had a great rookie season and she is still a massive celebrity in the WNBA but I just feel like this rivalry is going to fade out quickly, I think there are better rivalries for the Fever but they do have these two going up against each other night one,” DeMita concluded on her podcast.

There’s no doubt that apart from basketball too, when it comes to stardom, Angel is in a league of her own. She has solidified herself as a massive celebrity by attending high-profile events like the Met Gala and sharing a moment with Rihanna at the Footwear News Achievement Awards (FNAA), where she received the Style Influencer of the Year honor. Not to mention, her ever-growing influence on young girls only makes Reese’s name more popular.

DeMita also believes that Indiana can have better rivalries. On this thought, the one name that comes to mind is the Connecticut Sun who packed the bags for the young Fever team in the very first round of the playoffs. Other rivalries that just might arise for Indy are with the Seattle Storm and the pre-existing tensions and the Phoenix Mercury who Indiana swept 3-0 in the regular season.

And just like DeMita, both the lottery picks of the 2024 WNBA draft also agree that they have nothing but love and respect between them.

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese’s take on their ‘rivalry’

The young basketball players first sparked nationwide interest in 2023 when the forward’s trash talk went viral during the NCAA Championship Game between Reese’s LSU Tigers and Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes. The two began competing against each other way back in high school and have since emerged as two of women’s basketball’s biggest stars, both in college and now in the WNBA.

Clark edged out Reese to win the WNBA ROTY award this past season and also in the 2024 Elite Eight round during the March Madness, but Reese’s LSU defeated Clark’s Iowa last year to grab the dazzling ring and the hardware. Hence, if the rivalry is present, it definitely has its reasons. But the two stars differ from this notion.

Reese addressed their relationship, saying, “I don’t have any hard feelings toward her, and she doesn’t have any hard feelings toward me. It’s just basketball, and it gets crazy sometimes.”

Reflecting on their long-standing history, Reese shared, “I’ve been playing against Caitlin since we were probably in eighth or ninth grade. We were both really competitive. I went to Maryland [before transferring to LSU], she went to Iowa, and we competed there, so people don’t know the legacy of us being able to play against each other for a really long time.”

Addressing the perceived rivalry, Clark responded during a post-game press conference on June 21, saying, “I’m pretty sure the only people that view this as a rivalry are all of you (the media). Like, to us, it’s just a game of basketball.”

Although both players deny the existence of a rivalry between them, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to call it a manufactured one, as the media has played a significant role in amplifying the narrative. The intense competition, high-profile matchups, and contrasting paths to success have only fueled the perception of a rivalry, even though, for them, it remains simply a competitive sport they have loved all their lives.