Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve compared Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese to that of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird joining the NBA four decades ago.
Reeve called Clark and Reese “our watershed moment” during an interview with WCCO as the two stars among other top players enter the WNBA on Monday. Clark captured national attention by storm this year as she earned the all-time NCAA scoring record with Iowa, and Reese’s play impressed millions again with LSU in March.
“Incredible talent and personalities of the past that did phenomenal things, that I think are getting their shine a little bit more now because I think these players coming in are starting to recognize ‘hey, we need to pay our respects to those who came before us,'” Reeve told WCCO’s Vineeta Sawkar on Monday.
“It’s just an incredible time in women’s sports,” Reeve added. “Really excited for those players to see their dreams come true.”
“Her now-famous Hawkeye jersey was two twos, but she was one of one.”
@MikeHallHere narrates our Caitlin Clark retrospective. 🗣️
The Indiana Fever look poised to select Clark with the No. 1 pick in the draft on Monday. Reese will likely go a little later in the first round based on team needs and mock drafts.
Minnesota likely won’t have a shot at Reese. The Lynx pick at No. 8, which came about from a deal with Chicago Sky — a team that could ironically take Reese with the No. 7 pick.
“We positioned ourselves to pick up some future assets,” Reeve said. “It’s very, very subjective when you get past the first couple picks, and so we’ll have to see how this thing shakes out.”
NBC Sports projects the Lynx to take UConn’s Nika Muhl, and CBS Sports projects Isobel Borlase from Australia.
Cheryl Reeve: ‘It’s Foregone Conclusion’
There’s no mystery to the Fever taking Clark with the top pick after she declared for the WNBA draft. Reeve compared it to former Lynx star Maya Moore as the top pick in 2011.
“It’s a foregone conclusion, isn’t it?” Reeve told the Star Tribune’s Kent Youngblood on March 1. “It’s not even close. It’s like when Maya Moore was drafted. It was always just a matter of her making the decision. There is no doubt Lin is taking Caitlin Clark.”
Reeve of course was asked what it would take to bring Clark less than four hours from Des Moines, Iowa, to Minneapolis via a trade with the Fever. Minnesota has been one of the WNBA’s top franchises with four championships during the 2010s but could use a boost.
Caitlin Clark checks out for the last time in a Hawkeye jersey.
Changed the game.
“How do I say this?” Reeve said. And then: “Not a chance … People are going to say, ‘Sell the farm to get her.’ Well, the farm ain’t going to be enough to get her.”
Before the Lynx struggled to 19-21 in 2023, Reeve made it clear her team wouldn’t tank. The Fever went a league-worst 13-27 that year.
“Caitlin Clark might make you want to lose every game but not here,” Reeve told media via Bally Sports North in April 2023.
Caitlin Clark Effect Already Felt in the WNBA
Minnesota already has July 14 circled on the calendar when Clark and the Fever come to the Target Center.
Reeve noted that anticipated revenue is “blown out of the water” for 2024, and she said the excitement over Clark is league wide. It’s not just box offices around the WNBA, the league will have 36 of 40 Fever games on national TV.
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Cheryl Reeve Sends Strong Message on Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese