Getty Angel Reese
The Chicago Sky beat Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever in an 88-87 thriller on Sunday, June 23. It turns out that was only the start of the fun for Chicago’s fun-loving social media team.
Shortly after the final buzzer, the Sky’s X account posted its typical final score graphic, showing Angel Reese celebrating after her dominant 25-point, 16-rebound performance. Rather than just stating the final score, however, the post copy read:
“bUt wHy dO ThE ChIcAgO SkY HaTe tHe fEvEr? ThEy pLaY ToO HaRd. tHeY TaLk tOo mUcH. ThEy sHoUlD’Ve lEt tHeM WiN fOr ThE sAkE oF—” *transmission ends*
anyways, back to our original programming:
WE DON’T CARE BOUT NONE OF THAT. SKY ON TOP
“bUt wHy dO ThE ChIcAgO SkY HaTe tHe fEvEr? ThEy pLaY ToO HaRd. tHeY TaLk tOo mUcH. ThEy sHoUlD’Ve lEt tHeM WiN fOr ThE sAkE oF—” *transmission ends*
anyways, back to our original programming:
WE DON’T CARE BOUT NONE OF THAT. SKY ON TOP
#skytown
Got all that? It’s the type of troll you don’t often see from professional sports franchises, but it’s one that fit the moment perfectly.
The Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever Are the Biggest Draw in the WNBA
It doesn’t matter that the Sky and Fever are both fighting to just make the playoffs. Reese and Clark have made their matchups must-see TV, and the ratings back that up. When the two teams last played on June 16, it made for the most-watched WNBA game in 23 years, averaging 2.25 million viewers and peaking at 3 million.
Nevermind that Clark and Reese have both gone out of their way to tell the media they share a mutual respect, the narrative between the two is one of bitter rivals. Overall, it’s great for the league as it draws eyeballs and gives sportstalk a polarizing topic to debate.
But it’s come at a cost. There is the obvious — the racist attacks leveled at Reese and her teammates by fans and in the media. Then there’s the harmless-but-annoying false narrative that Clark is the only reason the WNBA is succeeding right now. Her exclusion from Team USA drew plenty of criticism because it would have been “good for the game” to put her on the world stage. Similarly, the poor social media manager who is responsible for monitoring the Sky’s channels while Clark is in town has no doubt had to hear much more about the team’s opponent than the Sky themselves.
The team’s postgame post was the perfect response to the chatter. It didn’t put down the opponent or attack anyone personally, it just stated “we don’t care.”
Nor should they. The Sky are trying to win games. The Sky won the game. Mission accomplished.
Brianna Turner Speaks Out on X
When the game ended, Sky reserve Brianna Turner was on X so quickly you would think her jersey had a pocket for her phone. In fact, three minutes before the Sky posted their troll of the Fever, Turner posted:
Angel Reese. 25 points, 16 rebounds, but most importantly a Win.
Make sure the apology is just as loud as the disrespect 🤭
“Angel Reese. 25 points, 16 rebounds, but most importantly a Win.
Make sure the apology is just as loud as the disrespect 🤭”
Realistically, Turner shouldn’t hold her breath. Those who leveled personal attacks at Reese aren’t likely to be the kind to admit fault. And those who criticized her game earlier in the season had every reason to.
While Reese has excelled in her eight-game double-double streak, she has gone through bouts of remarkable inefficiency for a player at her position. Before her most recent two games, she was shooting only 34% from the field.
But Reese is a rookie. It’s entirely expected that she will go through periods of struggle and of exponential growth. She had the best game of her short career on Sunday in the same game that Clark set the Fever’s single-game assist record with 13.
With those two rookies operating at such a high level and continuing to get better, the Sky and Fever should be appointment television for years to come.