In the ever-evolving rivalry between two of basketball’s brightest stars, Angel Reese, has made waves on social media by subtly throwing shade at Caitlin Clark, her college basketball rival from Iowa, after Clark drew a large crowd at the 2024 Gainbridge LPGA Pro-Am in Florida.
Reese’s Social Media Jab
Angel Reese’s comment about Caitlin Clark drawing a large crowd to the LPGA Pro-Am in Florida seems to be a playful jab at Clark, who has become a significant figure in women’s basketball. Reese’s comment — “Someone doesn’t deserve the attention” — likely refers to the growing attention Clark has been receiving for her performances, which have earned her widespread recognition. The rivalry between Reese and Clark has been a major talking point, especially after their dramatic meeting in the 2023 NCAA championship game.
Reese and Clark have exchanged barbs in the past, and this recent comment could be seen as another chapter in their rivalry. Despite the competitive tension, it’s important to note that both athletes are incredibly skilled and have helped elevate the visibility of women’s sports. Their rivalry, while heated at times, also adds to the excitement surrounding college basketball and women’s sports more generally.
It’s unclear if Reese’s remark was meant to be a serious critique or more of a competitive comment, but it certainly fuels the ongoing narrative of their rivalry.
Though the tweet was subtle, it was widely interpreted as a dig aimed at Clark, who continues to enjoy enormous popularity following her record-breaking performances during the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Reese’s remark seemed to express frustration with what she perceives as the media’s tendency to elevate Clark, especially given the attention she received at the LPGA event, while her own achievements — particularly LSU’s historic national title win — have sometimes been overshadowed by Clark’s individual accolades.
Caitlin Clark brought her golf game and a big buzz to the LPGA Tour on Wednesday when the basketball star played in a pro-am that attracted a bigger crowd than the tour often gets for its tournament rounds.
Clark played nine holes with Nelly Korda, the No. 1 player in women’s golf who is competing for the first time in nearly two months after a minor neck injury. She played the back nine at Pelican Golf Club with Annika Sorenstam, host of a tournament called The Annika.
During a brief interview with Golf Channel, the WNBA rookie of the year was asked if she picked up any tips from Korda.
“I’ve watched and she’s amazing,” Clark said. “But golf is hard.”
The gallery packed behind the ropes to watch Clark, and she signed autographs for hundreds of fans when the pro-am was over.
Clark has an endorsement deal with Indiana-based Gainbridge, the presenting sponsor of the LPGA’s penultimate tournament on the schedule. She also took part in a women’s leadership summit hosted by Gainbridge.
“It can only help grow women’s golf,” Brittany Lincicome said Tuesday, bringing a basketball for Clark to sign for her daughters.
Korda comes from a top sporting family. Her older sister, Jessica, played in the Solheim Cup and younger brother Sebastian is No. 23 in the men’s tennis ranking. Their father, Petr Korda, won the 1998 Australian Open in tennis.
She said she has messaged with Clark on Instagram, but nothing topped spending time inside the ropes.
“To see the influence that she has on people, bringing people out here, and to see how amazing of an influence she is just for sports, was really cool to see firsthand today,” Korda said.
Clark said she likes getting away to play golf — she played in the John Deere Classic pro-am last summer on the PGA Tour — and she contributed one putt from about 3-point range.
“It was great to see how relaxed she was,” Korda said. “Obviously with the media attention she has gotten probably in the past year-and-a-half, two years, you can see how she’s comfortable playing in front of a larger crowd. And she was just really enjoying it. You can tell.
“She’s definitely very talented. She was picking the ball really clean. She was losing a couple shots to the right, but I asked her how many times a week she plays and I think with the amount of obligations she has she probably gets to the golf course once a week.”
Korda last played at the Kroger Queen City Championship on Sept. 22, a week after she led the Americans to a Solheim Cup victory. She spoke of having migraines and thinks her neck injury that kept her from the Asian swing might have been related.
Korda already has clinched LPGA player of the year for the first time. She leads the Race to CME Globe but still needs to win the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship next week, which awards $4 million to the winner.
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