No one should feel comfortable with the brutal reality that Angel Reese has faced from some so-called fans of Caitlin Clark.
By now, you have likely heard about the growing rivalry between the top two rookies in the WNBA. They played each other during back-to-back NCAA women’s basketball tournaments and are two of the most exciting young stars in professional basketball who entered the league in the same draft class.
These players have an intense shared history with one another and they will continue to motivate each other to do better. While that obviously includes their performance on the court, it also plays a role with what they do off the court as well.
https://twitter.com/angelreeseshow/status/1831802309812301949
During a recent appearance on her “Unapologetically Angel” podcast, the Chicago Sky forward spoke about her relationship with Clark’s fans. Her comments did not paint a favorable picture (via CBS Sports):
“Caitlin is an amazing player and I’ve always thought she was an amazing player. We’ve been playing each other since high school,” the Chicago Sky forward said. “So I think it’s really just the fans — her fans, the Iowa fans, now the Indiana fans — that are, like, they ride for her and I respect that, respectfully, but sometimes it’s very disrespectful. I think there’s a lot of racism when it comes to it and I don’t believe she stands on any of that.”
The disrespect she is referring to has not just been a few mean social media comments. Reese said some people have gone much further than that.
“But when it comes to death threats, like, I’m talking about people have come down to my address, following me home, it’s come down to that,” she said. “Multiple occasions, people have made AI pictures of me naked, literally. They have sent it to my family members. My family members are, like, uncles are sending it to me, like, ‘Are you naked on Instagram?’ It sucks to see that and it’s really hard that I have to go through that, and now seeing other players even having to go through that.”
Reese added that she doesn’t believe Clark stands for any of these things, and Clark has spoken out broadly against racism and misogyny before.
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But as she and Reese continue to push each other to do better on and off the floor, it is time that she takes that a step further.
While she may not have control over this unacceptable behavior toward Reese, now that these quotes were said, it would make sense for Clark to speak out against these so-called fans.
Clark should step up and say that no one should ever use her name to perpetrate violent acts against Reese like death threats, stalking, and creating deep fake nudes.
Her previous efforts to condemn racism in the past were commendable. But this new rebuke, if she were to do it, should be specific and strong.
Maybe this does not permanently solve the issue, but if pointing to specific examples of what Reese has said could prevent even a few people from doing this in the future, it will be worth it.
This may be scary for Clark to have to wade in on such a heavy subject. That, however, is part of the fame that has come with her WNBA success.
She may not be able to speak out against every example of poor behavior committed in her name. But these comments from Reese feel like a good entry point to say that anyone who is committing these acts in her name is not actually a fan of hers at all.
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