'They’re Not Quite Understanding This World': Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese On-Court Drama Gets Media Blamed By Sue Bird

The heated rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese has once again taken center stage after their physical season opener ignited a firestorm of reactions—on and off the court.

During the Indiana Fever’s season debut against the Chicago Sky, Clark committed a hard foul on Reese to stop a fast break, which was later elevated to a flagrant one. While Clark’s intent seemed tactical, the fallout was anything but routine.

In the aftermath, members of the Fever crowd were accused of shouting racist and hateful comments toward Reese, sparking a league-wide conversation and triggering an official WNBA investigation into potential racism.

Former WNBA star Sue Bird addressed the incident on her podcast Thursday, expressing frustration over how the media continues to mishandle narratives around women’s basketball.

“There was Caitlin’s hard foul, which turned into a flagrant on Angel Reese, which sparked all the things that we dealt with last season,” Bird said. “The league is investigating any racism that happened from the fans, or anything that was said.”

She continued, “It’s almost as if we didn’t learn from last year… The mainstream media still isn’t quite hip to women’s sports. They’re putting all kinds of narratives all over the place.”