Caitlin Clark Shuts Down Reporter Over Angel Reese Question After Team USA Win
Image Credit - @fiba.basketball
Caitlin Clark just reminded reporters that if they are going to push for narratives, they will get shut down in the most epic way possible.
Moments after winning a gold medal for Team USA, Clark was in no mood for entertaining questions that would pit her against her teammates. Yet, not long after Team USA closed out France 97-79 in Berlin on September 13, 2026, one reporter tried to steer the postgame conversation toward Clark’s alleged rival and now teammate, Reese. It didn’t take long for the Indiana Fever guard to shut him down, though.
When the reporter tried to question her friendship with her teammate of barely a week, Clark firmly responded, “We’ve always been friends; don’t try to do that. Don’t try to do that”
Clark later circled back to address the same reporter and doubled down, wagging her finger at him, saying, “Don’t do that.”
“We’ve always been friends don’t try to do that” and the finger wag LMFAOOOOOOOO oh demon pic.twitter.com/nBrDPjrjKM
— the grinch (@WALKEDH0ME) September 13, 2026
Since their college days, Clark and Reese have had a well-documented rivalry. Sadly, the on-court rivalry has morphed into a much bigger and, at times, toxic discourse, with both the media and fans fanning their own speculations about the duo’s feelings for one another. Nevertheless, the Fever guard wasn’t going to let that hijack their gold medal win for the country.
This FIBA Women’s World Cup saw the young talents shine for their teams, especially Clark and Reese, who became the invincible duo who dished out some of the nifty assists to one another. Despite her efficiency problems lately on the offensive side of the ball, Reese led the team in field goal percentage throughout the tournament. However, when playing with Clark, fans saw that the Atlanta Dream forward had possibly the finest offensive run of her career.
Since LSU defeated Iowa in the 2023 national championship game – when Reese’s finger wave to Clark became one of the most replayed moments in women’s basketball history – the Clark-Reese rivalry has followed both star players. Even though the two tried to discreetly develop a working relationship within the USA Basketball program this summer, fans on both sides as well as the media kept pushing the rivalry narrative.
Now Clark seems fed up with the narrative being pushed for clicks and likes. She didn’t want to turn a moment about gold into fan-fueled grudges.
Since their rookie season, the WNBA has tried to market Clark and Reese’s rivalry every time they faced off against each other. The duo is undoubtedly the best players in their draft class to face each other in crucial games. So when two of the WNBA’s biggest stars were selected to join Team USA, the rivalry narrative only grew bigger.
However, both Clark and Reese have taken this opportunity to set a new narrative about their rapport, which fans and reporters are still struggling to wrap their heads around. They may not be best of friends, but this FIBA World Cup has proved the respect they have for each other.
And this isn’t the first time the Clark-Reese duo has proved fruitful on the court when they were playing for the same side. At the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game, they joined forces and helped Team WNBA defeat the U.S. Olympic team 117-109.
Nevertheless, Clark and Reese’s on-court rivalry should reignite shortly when they face off in the WNBA Playoffs. According to the current WNBA rankings, Clark’s Indiana would play Reese’s Atlanta in the first round.
For the first time in the postseason, both players are under more pressure as they play for teams that are vying for the championship. It remains to be seen if the Clark-Reese duo will square off in crucial WNBA playoff games for the first time.