Why did the WNBA fine Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky after win against Indiana Fever?

Whether it was the on-court aggression or the war of words that followed the game, there is one takeaway that we can be assured of and that’s the idea that the Chicago Sky do not like Caitlin Clark. Indeed, one of her former collegiate rivals made that abundantly clear.

Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese fined by WNBA

In our previous report, we covered some of the events of Saturday night’s showdown between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky, a game that ended in a narrow 71–70 Fever win. One of those was a heavy foul that was committed by the Sky’s Chennedy Carter. Though it was initially called an away-from-ball foul, it was later upgraded to a flagrant one following a WNBA review. What some may have missed, however, was that the Sky’s own rookie, Angel Reese, could be seen applauding her teammate’s actions, something that led to major backlash on social media.

Where Carter was concerned, she refused to answer any questions regarding Clark in the postgame press conference. Reese on the other hand, didn’t even attend the media session which according to reports has resulted in a $1,000 fine from the league for failing to complete her media session duties. Further to that, it’s understood that the league also fined the franchise itself an additional $5,000 for not making all players available to the media. On the whole, social media has been alight with debate surrounding the situation and what appears to be a growing trend of on-court abuse aimed at Clark. Even the Fever’s coach, Christie Sides gave her opinion calling the foul on Clark “unacceptable.”

Yet, perhaps what is most interesting about all of this is not the rough welcome that Clark has received at the hands of those she has faced in the WNBA so far, nor the calls for greater protection of arguably the league’s biggest star, albeit the newest, but rather the fact that where the former Iowa star and Reese are concerned, this is old news. Do recall that the pair faced off in the NCAA tournament final in 2023 with Reece’s LSU Tigers coming out on top against the Hawkeyes. It’s worth noting that both have repeatedly downplayed the notion of any beef between them, but Reece’s actions on Saturday paint a different picture. That’s all to say this is likely not the last we’ll be hearing/seeing of what’s starting to look like the makings of a great rivalry.