ESPN news: Indiana Fever Star Caitlin Clark Give Reasons Why Fever Couldn’t Win Over the Chicago Sky.

In addition to making the battle on the court important, Reese and Clark have turned it into a must-watch television show.

To far, no one has claimed that the WNBA planned a plot to place Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese on opposing teams that play each other frequently. But you almost wouldn’t blame them, considering how wonderfully it’s worked out.

However, by no means is Patrick Ewing going to play for the New York Knicks in this situation. Cooking the books on the 2024 WNBA Draft was not necessary. If that were the case, Clark would be currently playing for either the Los Angeles Sparks or the New York Liberty.

Rather, she resides in Indiana, and it so happened that Reese was still open when the Sky chose her with the seventh overall choice (after selecting Kamilla Cardoso with the third overall pick).

It turned out somehow. In addition to being conference opponents, Clark and Reese had one of the league’s closest regional rivalries—that of Indiana and Chicago. It’s just the Liberty and Connecticut Sun that can travel closer to each other.

When the two phenoms arrived, the two Midwestern franchises likewise found themselves in comparable circumstances. The Fever has been languishing in the bottom of the rankings for a while. Despite winning the WNBA championship in 2021, the Sky’s quick decline knocked them back to Indiana’s level in just two seasons.

And with that, Reese and Clark’s arrivals have made these two clubs the most exciting in the league. With all due respect to the dominance of the Sun and Liberty as well as the Aces’ consecutive championships, nothing compares, at least for the time being, to Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever vs. Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky in terms of conversation starters and riveters.

The statistics on this subject and women’s basketball in general are unmistakable, despite the abundance of narratives, storylines, and counterproductive diatribes to analyze.

With an average viewership of 1.53 million on ESPN, the June 1 game—which included the controversial Chennedy Carter foul—had the fourth-largest audience in the league’s last 22 years.

The clash on June 16, which resulted in a 91-83 Fever victory, broke CBS’s previous record for a WNBA broadcast and became the WNBA’s most-watched game in 23 years (2.25 million viewers).

The Fever and Sky met once more on Sunday. This time, Reese led Chicago to an exciting 88-87 victory after a strong second-half comeback. After the game, Reese arrived with her trademark swagger for the post-game conversation, and talk about her, Clark, and the rivalry went viral on social media.

We’ll wait and see how this one is rated. It is likely to be somewhat close to the previous number on the channel, considering it was televised on ESPN.

It’s also important to remember that this season’s final matchup is set for Friday, August 30. At that time, there’s a very real possibility that one, if not both, clubs will be vying for one of the eight playoff slots, which will only increase the dramatic possibilities. Up to that point, the Sky would be the last team in and the Fever would be the last team out if the playoffs began today. What if August finds that to be the case still?

Commentators are wasting a ridiculous amount of time attempting to determine how much Reese and Clark individually contribute to the WNBA. At best, those discussions are misinformed; at worst, they are dishonest. It’s similar to attempting to determine who was more “valued” in 1980, Magic Johnson or Larry Bird. Does anything like that even relevant when looking back at that period in 2024? Because of who they were and what they meant to each other, they were both immensely precious. Additionally, it was always must-see TV whenever they got together on the court.

For Clark and Reese, the same holds true. It has also been advantageous for all parties because they will continue to compete against each other as conference and regional rivals for some time to come. Well, maybe not those that despise Angel Reese, but that’s an other story.