“No.” Although just a word, when Cheryl Reeve said it for Caitlin Clark’s infamous Olympic snub, it became a huge controversy. Of course, it had quite a long, bad past attached to it. But how did it all start? How did one of the most celebrated coaches become the villain of the story which a rookie has just started? With the Hall of Famer coach finally saying something good about the Indiana Fever star, let us revisit all the time that there was a strained comment from the Minnesota Lynx head coach on Iowa’s sensation.

It is the Fever’s second visit to Minnesota this season, tonight. While Reeve was less than motivated to welcome the visitors the last time, the story has flipped for the latest game. Praising the All-Star rookie Caitlin Clark, the opposing coach mentioned in her pregame presser, “I know the sexier part is the logo 3, but pace and passing is what makes her exceptional.” In fact, she went as far as saying that she would have wished for the guard to play for her while mentioning Maya Moore alongside her. Truly, the rookie has changed the tides.

But while this was the good part, everything else has been less than appetizing for Indiana fans.

For starters, back on July 14, the Caitlin Clark effect was on full display as the Fever fans took over the home ground of the Lynx. Then, ESPN’s Myron Medcalf asked the head coach about the rookie’s future national team possibilities in the pregame press conference.

The infuriated Reeve had slammed the reporter by saying, “Why the hell would I answer a national team question? I’m wearing Lynx. And I’m the head coach of the national team but I’m not the chair of the committee. Anybody want to venture into anything else?”

Clearly, the coach did not want to answer anything about the Des Moines native. Still, came another question by Indy Star’s Chloe Peterson. When she asked about the crowd being pro-Indiana, Reeve simply shrugged and said, “I don’t give two s**ts. Not even one s**t.” Since then, everyone has the assumption that Caitlin Clark avenged her fans with the flushing 81-74 road win. But there’s more.

More saga of the Cheryl Reeve-Caitlin Clark story

In the All-Star Game press conference in July, Reeve was again not holding it back. Then, she received a question about whether she regrets not having Caitlin Clark on Team USA. Her response? “No!” That’s it. The USWBNT had already lost to Team WNBA then, where the Fever rookie, despite only having 4 points, broke the all-time rookie assists record with 10 dishes.

But if we recap the very early days of the first overall pick in the league, Reeve was again not ecstatic about her game not being on the WNBA’s League Pass. She had called out the WNBA itself to remind them that there are many more players in the league. When the league did not broadcast Minnesota’s promising preseason game, a fan began live-streaming it and getting over 400,000 views.

Cheryl Reeve later said that it was not Caitlin Clark’s fault but how the league failed to capitalize on all the hype around women’s basketball.

While the head coach has been going to and fro on her feelings towards Caitlin Clark, seems like she has, at one point, accepted that the rookie is here not just for her hype but her skills. It will be interesting to see how their future games turn out.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.