NBA Great Embraces Intense Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese Rivalry

As WNBA continues booming in viewership, the league is drawing eyes from basketball legends.

Including Detroit Pistons great Isiah Thomas. Thomas sat down with Back in the Day NBA on SI Wednesday to discuss the dynamic Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark rivalry.

"I think it's great in every aspect because the controversy it brings eyeballs," Thomas said. "The eyeballs and attention that is brought to the women's sport ... it makes people watch. Then all of a sudden, they're watching, they're like, 'They can play."' 

Some onlookers don't like the idea of pitting two young stars against each other, but the reality is that fans indulge in the intensity of the game. Rivalries have always fueled sports, which Thomas knows all too well. He was the centerpiece of the "Bad Boy Pistons" that won consecutive championships as a physical powerhouse in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

"The controversy is good," Thomas said. "People will pick their sides and they'll pick who they like, who they don't like, why they like them, why they don't like them but the most important thing is that you're watching." 

The Chicago Sky play the Indiana Fever on June 7, but Clark is sidelined for a minimum of two weeks and will miss the matchup. But the next chapter of the brewing Clark-Reese rivalry will bring enough outside noise that has legends like Thomas tuning in.

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