ESPN star suggests Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese incident became talking point for more than racial reasons

ESPN star Stephen A. Smith weighed in on Monday about why Catilin Clark’s hard foul on Angel Reese became a major story of the sports weekend.

Clark’s foul under the basket came after Reese pushed off of an Indiana Fever player to secure an offensive rebound. Clark fouled the Chicago Sky forward in order to prevent an easy two points. Reese let Clark have an earful over the foul. 

Clark’s personal foul was upgraded to a flagrant foul.

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Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, #5, reacts to a flagrant foul from Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, #22, on Saturday, May 17, 2025 during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (IMAGN)

The two WNBA stars downplayed the foul in their postgame press conferences, but it still became a hot topic of debate because of the history the two young athletes have.

"First Take" host Molly Qerim asked bluntly whether the story of Clark and Reese becoming "trending news" was because it was women being physical with each other or was it because it involved a Black and a White player.

"It’s not about Black and White – it’s about that White player and that Black player," Smith said of Clark and Reese. "Why? Because of the history they had before they came to the WNBA. If Angel Reese was never in Caitlin Clark’s face taunting her the way that she did, mimicking what Caitlin Clark was doing to numerous opponents in route to the Final Four and then LSU and Angel Reese busted their you know what at that particular moment in time and Angel Reese was in her face chirping at her the way that she did, it would have never gotten to this point.

"I have never deemed that to be a bad thing. I love that kind of confrontation. I love that kind of heat. But there are White folks in America had a problem with Angel Reese coming at ‘The Chosen One,’ Caitlin Clark, that way. And because of that, they’ve acted with a level of vitriol. How do we know that? Because Angel Reese came back to college following year and one of the things that reduced her to tears was the vitriol that she was receiving from around the country because were hating on her because of her elevated popularity and the fact that she had gone at Caitlin Clark that way.

Stephen A. Smith on the ESPN NBA Countdown live set at Intuit Dome on Oct. 23, 2024. (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

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"Now, we come to the WNBA. No fault of Caitlin’s at all. But in the end, because of her greatness and because people were resistant to accepting the way I have articulated on many occasions, you have people using that as an excuse to throw vitriol at other people. In the end, here’s what I say, that’s what’s contributed to Angel Reese becoming a household name, along with the fact that she’s a rebounding demon … but that’s elevated her level of popularity."

Smith pointed to the rivalry Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson had in the NBA. It started at the college level and blossomed into the NBA.

He drew a comparative racial line between the NBA greats and young WNBA stars.

"What I would say all of y’all is this … no matter how great Michael Jordan was obviously, it started with Bird vs. Magic. Yeah, you can talk about Showtime vs. Boston, but that White superstar losing in that national championship game to that dude called Magic at Michigan State when (Bird) was at Indiana State and him coming into the NBA," he said. "They constantly made the Finals, and they owned most of the 80s in terms of the two teams, respectively. The bottom line is, it contributed to elevate the popularity. 

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, #22, and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, #5, shake hands before the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on May 17, 2025. (Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)

"So, Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, embrace this. It’s OK, because all y’all doing is competing."

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Indiana won the first of five games against Chicago. Clark had a triple-double and Reese had a double-double.

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