WNBA Chicago Sky players Angel Reese and Chennedy Carter had quite a bizarre press conference in which they seemed to justify or at least minimize the flagrant foul from Carter to Cailtin Clark.  They repeated that “we can’t pick and choose who gets a flagrant foul.”  What are we to make of this?  That the audience, or refs, cannot stop them from attacking Clark? 

Angel Reese asserted that there is now greater interest in the WNBA, in part thanks to her.  You have to give her that–because of this drama between her and Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.  As Reese characterized it, she is indeed “the bad guy,” the villain.  But she accepts that role if it brings more interest to the WNBA, which apparently it does.  Let’s watch the clip:

It reminds me of Shakespeare’s Richard III, a deformed and murderous king who announces his intention to be the bad guy: 

And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover

To entertain these fair well-spoken days,

I am determined to prove a villain

And hate the idle pleasures of these days

(Act I, Scene I, lines 28-31) 

Whenever someone openly describes themselves as the bad guy, my ears perk up and I find that interesting.  I have to give Angel Reese credit.  She has a sense of theatricality that is needed for the WNBA, as a sport that is not necessarily known for drawing a huge audience.  Her point, that people are starting to get interested in the WNBA, is plausible.  But it’s mostly because of the drama between her and Caitlin Clark and its racial undertones.  Reese explains: 

“Negative things have probably been said about me, but honestly, I’ll take that, because look at where women’s basketball is. People are talking about women’s basketball, that you never would think would talk about women’s basketball…Just because of one single game…I’ll take that role, I’ll take the bad guy role.”

Is Reese a “bad guy”?  I wouldn’t go that far, but she has terrible sportsmanship.  She’s supposed to be one of the best players in the WNBA, behind Caitlin Clark, so maybe she feels slighted and maybe there’s some reason to be.   

For her part, Carter mindlessly repeated the slogan, “It’s all love,” all though it didn’t look particularly loving and sisterly when she committed her unprovoked attack on Clark.  

The press, meanwhile, seemed reluctant to tackle the issue (no pun intended) head on, which is that Chennedy Carter shoved Caitlin Clark to the floor in a way that was so uncalled for that it felt more like an assault than rough basketball play.  

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