WNBA MVP Rips Commissioner for Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark Comments

No doubt, the WNBA is setting new marks for the media coverage it has received nationally this season. The arrival of a rookie class headlined by No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and her collegiate rival, Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky. The pair has delivered on the floor with their performances, and off the floor with the attention they have garnered on television and social media.

While those two have done well as the new faces of the league, it’s the rest of the WNBA that seems to have had trouble adjusting to the bright spotlight. The latest gaffe may have come from commissioner Cathy Englebert, who touched on a sensitive topic when it comes to the Clark-Reese rivalry: the topic of race.

Englebert, appearing September 9 on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” program, compared Reese and Clark to the arrival of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird into the NBA in 1979, saying that the two “came in from a big college rivalry — one white, one black. And so we have that moment with these two.”

New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart was not on board, though, with Englebert’s assessment, especially bringing the race aspect into the conversation. Earlier, WNBPA union head Terri Jackson released a statement in which she condemned Englebert’s comments, saying that the promotion of a Black vs. white rivalry only engenders racist commentary among fans.

“This kind of toxic fandom should never be tolerated or left unchecked,” Jackson wrote.

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WNBA’s Breanna Stewart: ‘Enough Is Enough’

After the Liberty’s game on September 10, Stewart told reporters (via the New York Post):

“To be honest, I saw the interview today, and since then have been in talks with Terri at the WNBPA. I think that it’s disappointing to hear,” she said. “Because the way that the fans have surged, especially behind Caitlin and Angel coming to this league, but also bringing, like, a race aspect, to a different level. There’s no place for that in our sport. I think that’s really what it is. We want our sport to be inclusive for race, for gender, and really be a place where people can be themselves.”

“We wish Cathy would have used her platform in a different way and have made that a little bit better,” she said. “Just telling the fans enough is enough. Become a fan of our sport, and for the new ones, lock in on everybody. But don’t be disrespectful, because as a league, we stick together, and there’s no place for that.”

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Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese Rivalry Goes Beyond Race

In fairness to Englebert, though, there is no denying the basic fact that Clark is white and Reese is Black, just like Bird and Johnson before them. Bird and Johnson became Hall of Famers, icons, champions, and even friends despite their sometimes bitter rivalry, and that should be the takeaway from their time going head-to-head.

While it is not — and should not be — the goal of the league to play up a Black vs. white divide, making the Bird-Johnson comparison goes beyond race. Englebert also pointed out that all involved are great players whose rivalries were born before they turned pro.

Clark and Reese squared off in two of the most highly anticipated games in women’s college basketball history, in the NCAA tournament final in 2023 and in the Elite Eight in 2024, not unlike Bird and Johnson, whose Indiana State-Michigan State title game in 1979 was the most-hyped game in college basketball history.

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