If you think the rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese is epic, there’s a new rivalry brewing. And it’s hotter than the former NCAA-bred drama. CC is in the middle of it, too. But that’s the thing about her, as Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, puts it. Clark’s in-game debacle with Reese’s teammate, Chennedy Carter, has blown up to viral proportions and put the spotlight on the WNBA in ways it has never been before. Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky faced off once more on Sunday, and their last altercation was all everyone could talk about. The discussion escalated from whether Carter hard-fouled Clark to how CC is viewed by other WNBA players.

Armato returned to EssentiallySports after he touched upon the visibility Clark is bringing to the WNBA in a previous edition of ES Fancast. Vishal Kolar got his perspective on whether Carter was too hard on Clark in their first clash. For someone who has helped Shaquille O’Neal and Oscar De La Hoya to be viewed beyond the scope of a sport, Armato says that’s how the game of basketball is. It just looks bigger because it’s Caitlin Clark.

Armato: “She’s almost above and beyond the game itself. It’s almost like Caitlin Clark did this, people did that to her… So it’s really a lot more about her and what’s happening in her life because people are extremely interested in Caitlin Clark. As far as her getting roughed up, if it were a men’s basketball game, if it was the NBA, nobody would be saying anything. If you remember, Michael Jordan used to get the cr*p beaten out of him. People would say something but it wasn’t like ‘Oh, poor Michael Jordan.'”

He doesn’t explicitly state it but it brings back haunting tales of the ‘Jordan Rules.’ The Bad Boy Pistons were especially notorious for brutal fouls on Michael Jordan. People did debate if those fouls were uncalled for or just part of the game. But the majority would agree that brute force was the only way to stop His Airness from embarrassing you on the court.

Armato: “So I think when it comes to women’s sports, I think as a culture, we’re conditioned not to like women getting roughed up. They’re sort of roughing her up a bit but it’s all part of the game of basketball. If you go back into the history, you have the Bad Boys in Detroit, they would just like slam everybody when they would come through the key… There are all kinds of different examples throughout all of basketball, where rough play was part of the game.” 

Armato put a lens on the preconceived notion that female athletes don’t roughhouse the way male athletes do. But he and those on the WNBA said the league has always been tough. The reason Monica McNutt went viral for telling Stephen A. Smith he could’ve been showcasing the WNBA, “three years ago” is because not enough sports analysts spoke about the WNBA until Clark and Reese were here and made it out to be that this rough play is new.

The same Clark and Reese who made the last two NCAA seasons look like a Gladiator’s bloodsport. Apart from the viral “You can’t see me” debacle, Clark was also dragged for making a disrespectful gesture at South Carolina’s Raven Johnson. But WNBA veteran Diana Taurasi said that the tough part starts when you go from playing against teens to the WNBA vets. That was visible before the Chennedy Carter incident when Alyssa Thomas was ejected for taking Reese down by her neck. But that nearly didn’t cause enough uproar. For what it’s worth, Clark, Reese, and Carter are handling it with more grace than some analysts.

WNBA’s rookies embody basketball culture

WNBA insiders are drawing comparisons to the Jordan Rules era to explain that basketball has been combative in both leagues. While those fouls kind of stopped MJ for a while, they also pushed him to get stronger, as he himself revealed in The Last Dance. It won’t stop Clark for long either, as most on the WNBA side assert that the top rookie will only get stronger from this. And she did get some sweet revenge when the Fever won 91-83 on Sunday.

Ahead of their second matchup, Clark said, “Basketball’s competitive,” and she doesn’t need an apology from Carter. The Sky also was looking forward to a grudge match because they included Carter in the starting lineup at the last minute. Just about everything that makes basketball a thrilling watch.

Clark was the top scorer of the game with 23 points and 9 assists. Her rivals, Angel Reese and Chennedy Carter, had 11 and 18 points, respectively. This was an icy matchup according to observers but the ladies are proving it’s just another day in basketball.