As the WNBA playoffs rages on, Angel Reese has settled into her offseason brand turnup and in addition to her many public appearances, brand collaborations with companies such as Mercedes Benz and Reese’s Pieces, the Chicago Sky star’s “Unapologetically Angel” podcast offered another big dawg interview in former Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls star Dwyane Wade. 

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While the comparisons between Reese and Clark are inevitable because of the players’ popularity and history as adversaries in some of the biggest games in women’s college basketball history, Wade reiterated the point that they are very different on the court, outside of their shared winning mentality.

“Ultimately, y’all are different players,” Wade said. “You’re gonna bring different things to the game. But the way the game is viewed, y’all are the marketing tool that got the newer generation, newer eyes, kinda excited about her versus her.”

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese Completely Different Style Of Players

The comparisons between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have never been applicable when it comes to style of play. Clark is a multi-talented scorer with prolific range and controls the tempo of the game.

Reese is a defensive specialist who focuses on her gift of rebounding at a higher rate than anybody in WNBA history. Her 13.6 points per game didn’t come via hoisting up long range daggers at an all-time rate or dominating the ball. She has a knack for finding the ball, getting to the line and controlling the energy of the game with her leadership and tenacity.

Wade says that their differences only enhance the competition, because their fans have specific tastes and appreciate them for very specific reasons.

“We like a versus. We all like a versus. So you guys had a versus that kinda got everybody in it. and it was good for the game, at the right time.”

A versus. Villain vs. Hero. Good vs. Evil. Black vs. White. We get what Wade means. Not just the phenomenon that started during COVID, where all-time classic artists got together within the proper guidelines of COVID interaction and ran off their greatest hits in a competition/exhibition of musical therapy for the millions of people stuck inside their homes.

The NBA is based on those personal rivalries. People are invested in those kinds of relationships. It drives pro sports. The LeBron vs. Jordan vs. Kobe debate has raged on for decades and continues to be a hotspot for explosive sports talk interaction.

The comparisons are so emotionally charged and personally invested that relationships can fracture, and people draw lines in the sand and every discussion becomes political.

WNBA Players Say Racially Charged Comments Increasing Via Caitlin Clark Fans

When WNBA players complained about social media’s increased racist and misogynistic, sexist and homophobic attacks on players and labeled Clark fans as the culprits, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert denounced the behavior but, more important, she reiterated the need for rivalries similar to Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson.

Wade’s point was that it’s a necessary evil that equals big business and both Reese and Clark are acknowledged by anybody looking from the outside, as the catalysts to the WNBA explosion. Without their fan bases’s hate for each other, much less people would even care.

WNBA Exploding In 2024

According to the WNBA, the league attracted an all-time record of more than 54 million unique viewers across ABC, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, ION and NBA TV. A record 22 regular-season game telecasts averaged at least 1 million viewers.

The season was consumed for a record 136.29 million hours across all national networks. The Clark and Reese effects were felt. This was the most-viewed regular season ever across ESPN platforms with an average of 1.19 million viewers, a 170 percent increase from last season. The 2024 season featured the top seven most-watched WNBA games ever on ESPN.

CBS had its five highest-viewed games ever, led by 2.25 million viewers for the Chicago Sky at Indiana on June 16.