In the aftermath of Chennedy Carter’s Flagrant 1 foul on Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky were ready to turn the page toward their next game and the rest of the 2024 WNBA season.
Carter chalked up her Flagrant 1 foul on Clark to competition. The Sky guard said she has no regrets over the play or the fallout either.
With Carter standing beside her, Reese went to bat for her teammate in Monday’s media session.
“You’ve got to realize all of us have a story. Chennedy has been out of the league. I’ve had a story behind me. People are going to have their misconceptions about each one of us on this team, and that’s what makes it so special. Bringing each other together, I think I wear that on my shoulders.
“Chennedy wears that on her shoulders, because everybody doesn’t get this opportunity. So when we go out there and play super hard, compete every single day, it’s not personal. I promise you, it’s based off our stories and where we’ve come from. We’ve come from so many different places that you guys have never seen or would never understand. So just being able to go out there and play with that chip on our shoulder every single night, that’s just what we do and that’s just who we are, and you have to accept that,” Reese said.
Ultimately, there’s more attention than ever before on women’s basketball and on the WNBA. Reese commented on how LSU‘s battle against Iowa in the NCAA national championship game two years ago helped jumpstart the interest in women’s basketball.
Reese said she’s willing to embrace the role of bad guy for the growth of women’s basketball, but wanted fans and the world to know that the league’s growth isn’t solely due to one player.
“I think so many people are watching women’s basketball right now. It all started from the national championship game. I’ve been dealing with this for two years now. And understanding that, yeah, negative things have probably been said about me, but, honestly, I’ll take that because look where women’s basketball is.
“People are talking about women’s basketball that you never would think would be talking about women’s basketball. People are pulling up to games, we’ve got celebrities coming to games, sold-out arenas just because of one single game. And just looking at that, I’ll take that role. I’ll take the bad guy role. I’ll continue to take that on and be that for my teammates. And, if I want to be that, I know I’ll go down in history. I’ll look back in 20 years and be like, ‘Yeah, the reason why we’re watching women’s basketball is not just because of one person. It’s because of me, too.’ And I want you all to realize that.
“It’s not just because of one person. A lot of us have done so much for this game. And Chennedy has been here before obviously. There are so many great players in this league that have deserved this for a really, really long time. Luckily, it’s coming now,” Reese said.
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