Angel Reese Skips Caitlin Clark’s WNBA Playoff Debut to Attend NFL Game
The 2024 WNBA Playoffs kicked off on Sunday afternoon, but Angel Reese didn’t appear to be too concerned with that. Reese, whose Chicago Sky did not qualify for the postseason, has been in offseason mode for a while now after her season came to a premature end early in September when she suffered a fractured wrist.
Fans figured that Reese would be keeping tabs on the WNBA Playoffs, especially since her rival Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever are still playing. That didn’t end up happening, though, as Reese spurned Clark and the Fever in favor of watching the Los Angeles Rams take on the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL’s Week 3 action.
Fans were surprised to see Reese not paying attention to the WNBA Playoffs at all, although it does make sense since the Sky’s season is over.
You can bet that the narrative of a rift between Reese and Clark is only going to grow as a result of this move, though, even with their apparent friendship. Reese likely won’t be too concerned with that, because after all, she witnessed an awesome game between the Rams and 49ers on Sunday that ended with a game-winning field goal for the home team.
The LSU women have an Angel-Reese-sized void. Here’s how Kim Mulkey expects to fill it.
The LSU women’s basketball team no longer has Angel Reese or the attention she commanded — both on the court and off.
Who will fill that void this season? Ask coach Kim Mulkey, and she’ll say she’s confident that a new emotional leader will emerge, potentially before Nov. 4, when LSU tips off its first season in two years without Reese, the player who led the Tigers to their first national championship.
I don’t think there was ever any pressure even when Angel was here,” Mulkey said. “Each kid has just got a different personality, and I told you many times I coach some big personalities, and somebody in this bunch will have the big personality.
Now, it might not be in comparison to Angel, but the personalities just kind of rise to the top when they get comfortable.”
LSU’s top three returning players are Flau’jae Johnson, Aneesah Morrow Mikaylah Williams. The Tigers also have three other holdovers expected to contribute this season: guard Last-Tear Poa, forward Sa’Myah Smith and center Aalyah Del Rosario.
Mulkey and her staff added four transfers and a freshman to that bunch in hopes of forming a team that can return to the Final Four.
This time, however, the Tigers will have to do so without Reese.
“It comes with confidence, and it comes with being older,” Mulkey said. “But we’re gonna always play with emotion, we’re gonna always play excited, and those personalities will surface.”