The Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky WNBA 2025 regular season opener on May 17 was not short on excitement. While the Fever ultimately blew the Sky out by a score of 93-58, a heated moment between Fever star guard Caitlin Clark and Sky forward Angel Reese is going to capture a lot of headlines.
At one point in the third quarter, Reese became open in the paint with nobody guarding her. Once she received a pass, Clark came over to foul her so that she couldn't get an easy layup. However, Clark seemed to shove Reese a bit after the common foul, which sent Reese to the ground.
This prompted Reese to get up and start chewing Clark out. After a video replay, the game's officials ruled that Clark gave unnecessary contact to Clark, which awarded her a flagrant foul. Reese and Aliyah Boston both received technical fouls as a result of everything that took place after the initial foul occurred.
Angel Reese takes exception to this Caitlin Clark foul pic.twitter.com/zV23fdfu23
— Clark Report (@CClarkReport) May 17, 2025
When speaking with ESPN's Holly Rowe in between the third and fourth quarter, Clark said of the flagrant, “It’s just a good take foul. Either Angel gets a wide open two points, or, you know, we send them to the free throw line. Nothing malicious about it. It's just a good take foul, every basketball player knows that.”
Caitlin explaining to Holly she was talking to the ref because she thought it was just a good take foul, nothing malicious. pic.twitter.com/dNYZxsvJkp
— ericaf455 (@ericaf455) May 17, 2025
Reese spoke with the media, and seemed to agree with Clark's sentiment about the flagrant.
"Basketball play. Refs got it right. Move on," is all Reese said regarding the flagrant foul, per an X video of the Chicago Sky's postgame press conference.
Post Game Press Conference | Sky vs Fever | May 17, 2025 https://t.co/DxSvbVBkco
— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) May 17, 2025
While this was certainly the politically correct thing for Reese to say, one wonders whether this is how she truly feels, given how she reacted to the flagrant.
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